Colorado Roads Became More Deadly During The Pandemic. Officials Are Try To Reverse That Trend By Targeting Young Drivers
(CBS4) - Colorado State Patrol is running a new campaign to protect the youngest drivers through the end of the school year.
The campaign called "Don't Chase Cool" targets drivers aged 16 to 21. The goal is to encourage the youth to slow down on the road and develop good driving habits. According to CSP, 9,240 speeding citations were given out to drivers in that age range.
"We're seeing meth, we're seeing cocaine, we're seeing cannabis, in combination with alcohol and when you combine those substances it really amplifies your impairment and can lead to a much more dangerous situation on our roadways," CDOT Traffic Safety Communications Manager Sam Cole said. "I think that has a lot to do with why we are seeing one third of the traffic crashes on our roadways involve an impaired driver."
CSP is also looking to curb the speeding habits on younger men. CDOT explains that as more drivers left the roads during the pandemic, more young men took to the roads and drove recklessly on the open roads. With more people returning to the roads, the reckless driving didn't stop leading to more accidents.
"People a lot of time say speed doesn't kill, but it does because it limits your ability to stop in time or make a left or right correction, or being devastating without rolling the vehicle," Colorado State Patrol Master Trooper Gary Cutler said.
Another reason why CSP and CDOT wants the youngest drivers to develop good driving habits, have to do with an uptick in deaths on the road. According to CDOT, 691 drivers died in car crashes last year. That's the most since 2002. CDOT also says 14% of drivers don't buckle up.
Another has to do with poly-impaired driving where people are driving drunk combined with taking other drugs.
"It's creating more accidents. it's creating more issues on the roadway. And when we do pull somebody over that's been doing that, they're lucky to be pulled over for us because the alternative is that they hurt somebody or kill somebody or even themselves," Cutler said.
76 people have died in traffic accidents this year. CSP and CDOT are hoping that the emphasis on poly-impaired drivers and the 'Don't Chase Cool' campaign, which ends on May 30th, will help make Colorado roads safer.
"We want people to start buckling up. Obeying the speed limit. Never driving impaired. Get in that habit when they are a young driver so that they carry those good habits throughout their lives," Cole said.