As noted in Friday’s Gazette, the Colorado State Patrol is calling on the state’s motorists to concentrate on their driving – and add an extra dose of civility – while behind the wheel. It’s part of a campaign to stem rising traffic fatalities and it comes not a moment too soon.

Traffic deaths have increased each year since the pandemic hit, according to data from the Colorado Department of Transportation. In 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, 597 people died in car crashes. The following year, that number increased to 622 despite fewer people on the state’s roads and highways. Driving under the influence has played a part.

Even when the state returned to normal and the effects of the pandemic receded – with traffic volume back to pre-pandemic levels – the death toll on our roads surged again. There were 691 traffic fatalities in 2021.

State troopers will tell you a lot of Colorado motorists just aren’t very good about sharing the road. Their statements to the press reflect frustration and maybe a little disillusionment with motorists.

“For some reason, people are a lot more aggressive than they were prior to (the pandemic),” said Master Trooper Gary Cutler. “We see a lot more speeding, a lot more tailgating. I don’t know if it’s because people aren’t giving themselves enough time to get to work or wherever they’re going, or if they’re just in a rush, or if we’ve got a driving public that just doesn’t care anymore.”

Col. Matthew C. Packard, chief of the Colorado State Patrol, was even more blunt.

“While many of us have been saying that driving in Colorado has gotten very unpleasant since the pandemic and fellow motorists seem more reckless than ever, we now see a consistent and disappointing trend with our data,” Packard said.

“Driving etiquette seems to have gone out the window and it’s time for drivers to bring it back before their aggressive behaviors result in a citation or worse, a horrible crash.”

All of which leads to a highway behavior authorities say is a root cause of many crashes – careless and reckless lane changes. It’s what prompted the State Patrol’s year-long “Stay In Your Lane” campaign. The patrol also offers some other advice, as reported in Friday’s Gazette:

• Use the road’s shoulder only for emergencies, not passing or merging;
• Don’t tailgate;
• Let other drivers merge;
• Don’t drive distracted;
• Don’t respond to aggressive drivers.

Those last two points address two epic challenges posed by motorists – our phones and our tempers.

“If people are concentrating on what’s around them when they’re behind the wheel, and giving up all the other distractions – whether it’s a passenger, the phone, the radio, eating, whatever – they’re going to have a safe drive,” Cutler said.

Road rage could be the hardest, dangerous habit to kick.

“It really goes back to the Golden Rule: Treat others as you would like to be treated yourself,” he said. “If everybody did that, we would have some of the best and safest roads anywhere.”

Indeed, we all make mistakes. We’re all human, and we hope others are understanding, and forgiving, of our foibles. Now, if only each of us can remember that about the rest of the motoring public – whenever we get behind the wheel.

Denver Gazette Editorial Board