When Westword recently published a list of the “Top 5 biggest speed traps in Denver,” I expected to see the one where I was nailed this summer. But no. Apparently this business of fleecing motorists is more prevalent than I’d thought.

A few days later, however, Westword published a second list of five notorious speed traps, and bingo: There it was, my nemesis, Kalamath between 1st and Alameda, a photo-radar cash cow.

I pass this stretch of road only on the occasional Saturday, and not once in recent months have I seen any construction to justify the 25 mph “work zone” speed limit. And yet nearly every time, a photo-radar van would be hunkered down on the west side, picking off one unsuspecting mark after another for having the nerve to drive in the 30s on a stretch of road where such speeds would seem to be as threatening as a scooter.

If Denver is so determined to fill its coffers with unearned loot, it might as well deputize a troupe of pickpockets and deploy them on the 16th Street Mall. At least then there’d be no pretense of serving the public interest. Instead, the city’s photo radar enforcement program serenely assures us that they choose sites “based on best use of resources and complaint areas” and to “increase public safety.”

If only. It’s hard to take such claims seriously when photo-radar vans seem parked habitually where the pickings are easy — say, because the posted speed is well below traffic flow or indeed lower than adjoining stretches of the same road.

For what it’s worth, Denver ranks fifth nationally on a list of 25 cities “with the highest number of speed trap locations over the past two years,” according to the National Motorists Association. The NMA’s list relies upon motorist reports as opposed to scientific surveys and so should be taken with caution. Yet there is no doubt that the photo-radar law is routinely abused — in terms of where and how contractor vans are deployed, the visibility of warning signs, and the way the public is misled about the law itself.

Most people assume a photo-radar ticket is equivalent to one handed to them by a police officer. But it is not. Thanks to legislation that anticipated the technology’s abuse to raise revenue, photo radar tickets aren’t reported to the department of motor vehicles and won’t rack up points against your license. Your car can’t be booted for unpaid fines. And, most interesting of all, according to criminal defense attorney Gary Pirosko, you “have to be personally served” before you actually have to pay — and service must occur within 90 days or the ticket goes away.

Pirosko, who has fought photo- radar shenanigans since the beginning and once got a judge to suspend Denver’s system until it was reformed, told me, “The public is sick of cities using them as an ATM machine. I’m telling people to follow the law. Make them serve you personally.”

And if you do, don’t answer the door to strangers for awhile.

In the tickets it mails to motorists, Denver does say they won’t be reported to the state. But the only hint of the personal service mandate is the warning that the assessment “may be served to you” if you don’t pay by a particular date.

When Fox 31’s Heidi Hemmat did a report on photo radar in April, Denver police brushed off her questions about personal service — as well they might, since ignorance is the best assurance of docile payment.

Make no mistake: Docile payment is the right call if you were speeding recklessly. If not, though, it seems you have an option.

E-mail Vincent Carroll at vcarroll@denverpost.com