Colorado officials urging driver safety expecting heavy Fourth of July holiday travel

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – Regardless of rising fuel costs, AAA and the Colorado Division of Transportation expect one other 12 months of excessive quantity Fourth of July journey. This 12 months, 786,000 Coloradans are anticipated to journey in the course of the Fourth of July weekend, up from 770,000 final 12 months.

“Coloradans will probably be becoming a member of the ranks of 47.9 million Individuals who’re touring over the Independence vacation interval,” states Skyler McKinley, the Regional Director of Public Affairs for AAA. “That is largely a street journey vacation. We’ve truly seen a 1.5% improve in automotive journey although, hitting an all-time excessive. Partly due to excessive costs and many of us deciding to remain slightly nearer to house however nonetheless deciding to journey.”

To be able to keep away from the visitors, AAA advises the general public to keep away from driving in the course of the busiest durations of vacation journey.

“In the event you can keep away from touring within the afternoon, particularly at this time, Friday, but in addition the Monday of July Fourth, that’s when journey is gonna be at its worst. However normally simply finances one-and-a-half to 2 occasions the driving time that you simply’re staying in Colorado,” McKinley says.

With a rise in automotive journey in the course of the holidays, a requirement improve of fuel can also be to be anticipated. Nonetheless, AAA says there are methods to keep away from any attainable gas worth spikes.

“You’re largely going to see growing costs on fuel above that $4.90 stage in the event you’re service stations which are largely catering to vacationers alongside I-25 or I-70. However in the event you might refill at your neighborhood, your native service station, you in all probability received’t see an enormous worth jumps,” says McKinley.

The rise in vacation journey additionally brings issues about driving safely and driving sober for the Colorado Division of Transportation.

“Nicely it’s a vacation weekend, so we anticipate lots of people are going to be out on our roads. Additionally, it means a whole lot of of individuals are going to be out ingesting. And we simply don’t need individuals to mix each these issues,” says Sam Cole, Visitors Security Supervisor for the Colorado Division of Transportation. “Final 12 months there have been 9 fatalities on our roadways in the course of the Fourth of July weekend, over half of these concerned an impaired driver.”

The Colorado Division of Transportation additionally states how vital driver security is in El Paso County particularly.

“El Paso County tends to see extra visitors fatalities than wherever else within the state. Final 12 months there have been 77 visitors fatalities in El Paso County, the worst by far in some other area of the state,” states Cole.

Cole tells us that elevated DUI enforcement is anticipated throughout the state this weekend, with upwards of fifty regulation enforcement businesses collaborating within the enforcement. This might embody each checkpoints and saturation patrols in sure areas. In keeping with CDOT, over 50% of visitors fatalities in the course of the Fourth of July weekend final 12 months concerned impaired drivers.

Yearly impaired-driving crash and fatality information in Colorado can discovered be discovered by clicking right here, whereas native company DUI enforcement plans may be discovered by clicking right here. The Warmth is On marketing campaign is a big asset in preventing impaired riving in Colorado as nicely, because it gives funding to Colorado regulation enforcement to assist combat impaired driving statewide. Drive sober, or don’t drive in any respect.

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