Hefty Speeding Tickets Follow Speeding Drivers In Grand County
GRAND COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - The Colorado State Patrol says six people died in six separate crashes on state roads over a 12 hour period this past weekend. In rural Grand County, the sheriff is making a push to get drivers to slow down.
CBS4 cameras were invited to ride along with deputies on Monday to watch their speeding enforcement in action.
"If I could spend a day out on Highway 9, in a 10 hour shift I could probably get 10 people going over 90 (mph)," said Sgt. Chad Yurich with Grand County Sheriff's Office.
The speed limit is set to 65 mph. Routinely, Grand County Sheriff deputies are catching drivers going much faster than that.
"The fastest vehicle I've gotten on this road is 120 (mph) on a motorcycle. We've consistently had 100 mph stops," Yurich said.
The sheriff here has turned to Facebook to publicly shame and educate people about the danger.
"This is a two-lane highway. In areas, there's not much of a shoulder. There's not a lot of wiggle room," Yurich added.
Deputies stepping up their patrols along notorious speed zones like along Highway 9 and Highway 40 headed to Steamboat Springs. They say speed kills.
"A lot of times speed is the number one contributing factor to these crashes," Yurich added.
They are hoping their presence and the hefty speeding tickets they are writing help slow traffic down.
One of the drivers who was issued a ticket on Monday during CBS4's ride along was going 15 mph over, resulting in a $200 ticket.
The sheriff tells CBS4 the extra patrols will continue until the drivers slow down.
