Summer fever has prompted some dangerous driving habits and this weekend Colorado State Patrol took a stand to make sure drivers focus on the road.
Since Friday night they have been utilizing all of their resources to prevent fatal crashes. Every uniformed officer in CSP worked this weekend to support a “Zero Fatalities, Zero Tolerance” policy.
"It's extremely important to be out there reducing the number of crashes, reducing the amount of lives lost that could be prevented from losing," says State Trooper Matt Pixler.
In comparison to 2013, CSP has already increased the number of tickets given this year. Their citations for proactive DUI arrests are up 12.8%, speeding citations are up 17.2% and seat-belt violations have increased by 14.9%, but the number of fatal crashes has dropped, down 25.5% from last year.
"Distracted driving will lead to crashes and it's unnecessarily hurting someone else,” Pixler says. “If you are paying attention to the road, focusing on your own driving, you are going to prevent someone else from being injured.”
CSP is looking for things like texting and driving, speeding, swerving and other habits that pose a threat to road safety. The warm summer months play a huge role in their crackdown.
"Once the weather starts warming up we get a lot more crashes,” Pixler says. “There's a lot more people out there that are drinking."
With all eyes and resources on the road this weekend, CSP is warning drivers that they have no tolerance when it comes to drinking or distracted driving.
"A text is not worth a life,” Pixler said. “One single text, it doesn't matter how long it is, it's not worth a life."
View the news story for more information.
