The Colorado State Patrol has released data that says the number one reason behind injury and fatal crashes in the state last year was high speeds.
The Patrol says while speeding took second place as the leading cause of fatal crashes in 2021 and 2022, it took the lead last year.
“Speeding is likely the most disobeyed law in our nation because too many drivers want to ignore the relationship between driving the speed limit and road safety,” stated Col. Matthew C. Packard, chief of the Colorado State Patrol. “The solution to safer streets rests with each one of us. For drivers, our message is to be the solution to our traffic safety problem. Drive the speed limit and drive focused.”
As of December 26th, 2023, troopers had investigated 2,722 fatal and injury crashes around the state that included speed as a factor. Speeding was found to be the top causal factor for 652 of those crashes, followed by lane violations (611) and distracted driving (551).
However, the Colorado Department of Transportation says that of the 697 deaths from fatal crashes last year, 31 percent involved impaired driving.
