With the solar beating down and the temperature within the mid-70s, the Colorado State Patrol on Friday checked to see whether or not industrial truck drivers at a port of entry about 40 miles west of Denver had their snow chains helpful.
By midday, troopers had issued 13 citations on the Dumont port of entry for violating the state mandate that industrial motor automobiles carry chains on Interstate 70 within the mountains from Sept. 1 to Could 31.
A brand new regulation expands the place industrial automobiles weighing greater than 16,000 kilos should carry these chains. They embrace mountain highways in elements of northwest, central and southwestern Colorado. The realm coated on I-70 has been expanded from west of Morrison to the Utah state line.
“If we discover you and also you wouldn’t have chains, you possibly can count on a quotation. This a no-tolerance, 100% violation,” Col. Matthew Packard, chief of the Colorado State Patrol, stated throughout a information convention.
The stakes are excessive if truckers don’t comply and crash or get caught on a snowy mountain freeway, Packard stated. A closure on the I-70 mountain hall prices the state’s economic system an estimated $2 million an hour.
And individuals are in danger once they’re caught on a freeway throughout a snowstorm, maybe stranded with out meals, sufficient clothes or remedy.
“It’s vitally necessary not solely to our economic system however to the well being and security of Coloradans to have this freeway shifting as shortly and effectively as attainable,” Packard stated.
Whereas the circumstances might be heat and dry on mountain highways, because it was Friday, Colorado climate is unpredictable, notably farther west on I-70, Packard stated.
“Right here we’re in October, coming off every week the place we’ve had 90-degree temperatures, however we all know we will get on the opposite facet of the Eisenhower Tunnel and it may very well be raining or snowing,” he stated.
Herman Stocking, deputy government director of the Colorado Division of Transportation, stated it’s necessary to get the phrase out to truckers, particularly these from out of state.
“Should you’re from Florida and also you’re driving by way of, you could not assume in October you’re going to want chains. I’ve heard tales of individuals getting out of their shorts and making an attempt to place their chains on,” Stocking stated.
State companies present info to drivers on the chain regulation and put up it on their web sites. One web site has a video exhibiting the way to put chains on a truck in addition to a map exhibiting the place restrictions apply and particulars in regards to the up to date regulation.
Beneath this 12 months’s adjustments to Colorado’s chain regulation, industrial motor automobiles will probably be restricted to the appropriate lane on a few of the “steepest, most windy” mountain roads, Packard stated. The tremendous is $100.
Drivers will face the doubling of fines for rushing in sure designated areas. Packard stated indicators will mark the place the restrictions apply.
The extra elements of the state the place the chain regulation will probably be enforced embrace: Colorado 9, Frisco to Fairplay; U.S. 40 west of Empire; U.S. 50 west of Salida; U.S. 160 west of Walsenburg; U.S.285 west of Morrison; and U.S. 550 in southwest Colorado.
Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, a Glenwood Springs Democrat and a main sponsor of the brand new chain regulation, stated protecting the roads open is a significant concern to her neighborhood, the Publish Impartial newspaper reported.
Final 12 months, Packard stated the state issued about 1,000 citations for violation of the chain regulation. The penalty is a $50 tremendous and $17 surcharge.
Chains are required on each side of axles that drive the automobile.
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