Colorado State Patrol launched its new, weekly “traction-law check” on the I-70 mountain corridor Feb. 27. Troopers partnered with Jefferson County Sheriff and Avon Police Department for stops between Golden and Avon.
Passenger vehicles were ticketed nearly five times more often than commercial vehicles: One in four private drivers went home with a ticket, mostly for speeding, compared to about one in 19 truckers.
Passenger vehicle contacts… 257
Speeding citations… 48
Total passenger citations… 59
CMV contacts… 174
CMV chain compliance citations… 5
Total CMV citations… 9
The next weekly traction check is this Wednesday March 5.
What about rentals?
Summit County commissioner Tamara Pogue is commenting on rental cars and why it could be hard or even impossible to crack down on red platers, saying, “How do you levy fines on a rental car company for not doing the right thing? And if a tourist doesn’t understand what the right thing is, is that their responsibility to pay that fine?”
Most Colorado lawmakers do not support a California-style solution with mandatory traction checks on mountain roads, especially high-alpine passes, where vehicles are not allowed to continue if they fail.