- Officials with the Colorado Department of Transportation and the State Patrol are calling for more education and awareness around driving safety.
Concerned about a spike in traffic fatalities, officials with the Colorado Department of Transportation and the State Patrol are calling for more education and awareness. In a conference call Tuesday, CDOT Executive Director Shailen Bhatt said that there was a long-term downward trend in traffic deaths until 2015, which was “a pretty deadly year on Colorado roads”. Overall fatalities statewide were up roughly 10 percent over 2014. Motorcycle fatalities likewise jumped 10 percent to 104, a record high. Almost half of vehicular fatalities involved people not wearing seat belts. One-third of fatalities involved alcohol. Bhatt said traffic congestion tends to increase the number of crashes, but the percent of fatal accidents is higher in rural settings. Officials said it is too early to tell whether marijuana legalization is having a significant impact. State Patrol Chief Scott Hernandez said marijuana-only DUID charges are up 15 percent. Officials also called distracted driving a major new concern. Bhatt urged drivers to buckle up, stay sober, and concentrate. He said people bought Powerball tickets at odds of 1 in 300 million; by comparison, odds of being in a fatal crash in Colorado in 2016 are 1 in 7,000.
