In 2018, 11 people lost their lives on Fremont County highways. 81% of them were because of impaired drivers. That’s roughly double the national rate.
On Tuesday morning, Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) Public Relations Specialist Cody Beers and Wyoming Injury Prevention Resources (IPR) Executive Director Noel Cooper hosted an event in front of community leaders, law enforcement, and concerned citizens.
Riverton Mayor Rich Gard was in attendance, along with Fremont County Commissioner Jennifer McCarty, and Riverton Community Development Director Eric Carr. Members from the Riverton Police Department, Wyoming Highway Patrol, and Fremont County Sheriff’s were also in attendance.
Beers and Cooper explained what their agencies do, how they are preventing DUI’s and traffic fatalities, and programs in place to continue reducing impaired drivers in Fremont County.
Injury Prevention Resources works with drivers that are on a DUI supervised probation program. From 2004 to 2017 they’ve worked with 1,635 people on the program. 67% of them succeed after entering the program. Cooper noted that despite some “popular stereotypes,” in Fremont County of the DUI offenders they’ve helped 828 have been Native American, 711 Caucasian, and 96 other. “Driving impaired can kill anyone,” Cooper said. “It’s not specific to race, age, gender, sexual orientation. If you drive intoxicated, the result is going to be bad.”
Cooper hopes IPR can continue to reaching students. Most 6th-graders in Fremont County attend a “Life R U Ready” campaign at the Fremont County Fairgrounds. The event demonstrates the effects of poor decisions, such as drinking and driving. Additionally, he is working to enforce car-seat safety. Since 1991, IPR has helped inspect over 1,100 car seats and distributed 914 to low-income families. Cooper says that 86% of the car seats they inspected were installed incorrectly.
Beers told the audience that WYDOT continues to actively run advertising campaigns to target seat belt laws and DUI’s. He mentioned the billboards placed around Fremont County that feature Wyoming Indian High School basketball teams and St. Stephens football teams. Beers also acknowledged the St. Stephens High School Honors Society for adopting a 2-mile stretch of Gas Hills Rd (Wy 136.) Cody mentioned the team of kids involved helped clean up trash on the highway, including a section that has become a “non-official dump.”
Additionally, Cody said they continue to stress the importance of Wyoming’s “Move Over” law. The law states that motorists are required to move over around stopped law enforcement vehicles when available, and to reduce speed by at least 20 mph under the posted speed limit. Beers said emergency personnel and WYDOT snow plows getting hit have been a major concern recently. He said 14 WYDOT snow plows had been hit this winter, all from behind.
Beers stressed his concern for the Wyoming highway fatality total in 2019. Currently, that number is at 37, which is 15 deaths ahead of this time last year.
Wyoming Department of Transportation law enforcement liaison Pete Abrams spoke briefly near the conclusion of the presentation and thanked those in attendance. He said that community residents need to continue to help Fremont County law enforcement do their job effectively. “Working together will help save lives,” he said. Abrams said in his opinion there was no tougher job than being a law enforcement officer working in the field, and they often get harassed by motorists when stopping them for traffic citations. “Please support the officers who are out there saving lives,” he said. “They do the small things to keep us all safe.”
On a positive note, DUI’s are down 63% over the last 8 years.
In 2010 there were 453 DUI offenses. With the exception of between 2013-2014, that number has decreased every year. In 2017, there were 172 DUI’s.
“That trend is good,” Cody Beers said. “But, it’s still far too high and we still have a lot of work to do.”
