Letter: Another big truck out of control
A truck overturned in Dowd Junction closing Interstate 70 … so what’s new.
Eagle County residents and visitors are constantly endangered and inconvenienced.
The Colorado Department of Transportation (our tax money) is paying for cleanup and management of accident sites. The citizens of these counties along the I-70 corridor are paying for the delays individually and dearly.
Local and state officials have the responsibility to make greater efforts to improve the situation and find ways to prevent — or at least reduce — trucker-caused accidents.
Perhaps the commissioners of Eagle County and Garfield County should take a crack at protecting their neighbors and all others better. Request complete data and analysis from CDOT on the numbers, and causes of accidents on I-70 by sections of the road — for example, Vail pass to East Vail, East Vail to the entrance of Glenwood Canyon, and inside the Canyon to Glenwood Springs. The data should definitely include the cost to CDOT of the management and cleanup of each of these accidents, as well as information on the drivers.
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Publish the data and CDOT’s analyses without delay for all to see.
The counties should fight for bold actions to make rules and new laws to reduce accidents. Common sense suggests that a great percentage of accidents would not happen if the speed limits of trucks were reduced. Perhaps lower speed limits in the winter than in the non-winter periods. For example, a strict 35 miles per hour through Glenwood Canyon would surely prevent 95% of accidents if not 100%. However, speed limits must be enforced in innovative new ways even if it takes new legislation.
For example: Glenwood Canyon’s critical section is 13 miles long. At 50 miles per hour (the current speed limit for trucks) it is 15.6 min. At 35 mph it would be 22.2 minutes. Only less than 7 minutes longer! The recent mindboggling accident when a truck fell from the westbound lane onto the eastbound lane would surely have been prevented if traveling at 35 miles per hour. It is a miracle that no innocent travelers were hurt. With less luck, you can be looking at possibly dozens of fatalities, for 7 minutes! If such a bizarre accident can happen once, it can happen again!
Stephen Vastagh
Eagle
