Grand County Sheriff Brett Schroetlin is sick of speeding.
This August alone his deputies have caught multiple people doing over 100 miles per hour on Highway 9 and U.S. Highway 40. One speeder was clocked at 126 miles per hour in a 65.
“We all get a lead foot sometimes,” Schroetlin tells Krystal 93 news director Phil Lindeman. “But when you are doing double the speed limit, or going 100 in a work zone, that is a no brainer. That is not acceptable.”
Starting now, Schroetlin’s office has launched a no-tolerance campaign for excessive speed, reckless driving and illegal passing. You will get a ticket for driving infractions, and the worse they are, the steeper the penalties. If you are speeding over 25 miles per hour you might go to jail and your vehicle most likely impounded.
“Our roads are busier than ever,” Schroetlin says “Unfortunately with those busy roads comes lack of patience. People are passing when they shouldn’t. They are driving at excessive speed. This is happening all over the state, and it is concerning. Our community is concerned.”
On the shoulder of Highway 9, near the Summit-Grand County line, a temporary sign is a sober reminder of the consequences. It tells motorists that six people have died on the outskirts of Kremmling this month, including a family of five with children as young as two years old. Colorado State Patrol believes the family was killed Aug. 4 when a pickup truck, passing in the wrong lane, slammed into the family’s SUV.
Four days later, Aug. 8, a woman was killed in another head-on collision, this one on U.S. 40. Two young girls in her vehicle were rushed to the hospital, one in critical condition.
“People are willing to roll the dice and take the chance of getting caught and getting a ticket,” Schroetlin says. “Unfortunately, we don’t have enough deputies and state patrol doesn’t have enough troopers to be everywhere.”
Schroetlin says more cops and new passing lanes are not the answer. But his new campaign sends a clear message – dangerous driving in Grand needs to stop.
“It takes law enforcement, it takes the community, it takes EMS, it takes our elected officials,” Schroetlin says. “Every single person has to be involved in the solution. But the solution starts with everybody accepting personal responsibility.”
State patrol is on-board with Schroetlin’s campaign. He believes Summit County Sheriff will join him as well.