TRAFFIC FATALITIES IN ’17 TOP LAST YEAR

Colorado’s traffic deaths in ’17 top those in ’16, which saw the most in over a decade.

There have been 615 deaths on Colorado roads this year, most of which occurred on the Front Range.

Colorado has recorded more roadway deaths this year than it did in 2016 — a year that saw the most such fatalities in more than a decade and prompted alarm from state transportation officials.

The Colorado Department of Transportation on Tuesday has tallied 615 deaths on the state’s roadways so far in 2017. Last year, there were 608.

The 2017 number includes the three people who died Monday night, when, according to authorities, an 86-year-old Wheat Ridge man drove the wrong way down Interstate 70 before slamming head-on into a pickup truck. A fourth person was seriously hurt.

The tally also includes a 19year-old Longmont woman killed last week in a single-vehicle crash in southwestern Colorado.

Preliminary data show an increase in deaths from crashes involving impairment and people not being properly restrained with a seat belt, CDOT’s traffic-safety program spokesman Sam Cole said earlier. A full analysis of the numbers won’t be completed until sometime next year.

However, Cole pointed at the decrease in motorcycle deaths and the decline in the year-overyear increase rate of people killed on Colorado’s roads as positives.

The Front Range accounted for the bulk of the deaths, with the deadliest roads being in El Paso County (67 deaths), Adams County (60), Weld County (55) and Denver County (44), according to CDOT data.

June was the deadliest month, when 70 people died, followed by July, when 65 were killed. February had the lowest tally, with 30 roadway deaths. So far in December, 37 people have died on the state’s roads.

In the Christmas Day I-70 crash, which happened in the interstate’s eastbound lanes at about 7:15 p.m. near Tower Road, the Colorado State Patrol on Tuesday identified the victims.

The 86-year-old who investigators say was driving the wrong way was Gerald Arnett, of Wheat Ridge. He was behind the wheel of a 2003 Dodge Caravan minivan, which was also carrying 96year-old Betty Arnett, also of Wheat Ridge. Both died at the scene.

The minivan slammed into a 2001 Dodge pickup truck driven by 24-year-old Kyle Parker and carrying 24-year-old Katie Paul — both from Strasburg. Paul died at the scene and Parker was seriously hurt and taken to University of Colorado Hospital for treatment.

An investigation into the crash remains ongoing.