FRUITA, Colo. (KREX) — Distractions while driving come in many forms, one of the most popular being cell phones.
But what seems like only a second of taking your eyes off the road could turn into a serious crash.
A new law put into effect at the start of this year prohibits any sort of phone usage behind the wheel.
Colorado State Patrol Cpt. Matt Ozanic tells WesternSlopeNow within the past month, 90 people have called in to report dangerous driving between Fruita and Palisade, specifically on the highway. Sixty of those calls were specifically about drunk driving.
To combat this, troopers hit the road on Jan. 17 to conduct a surge operation on Highway 6.
Ozanic says the most common times for these calls falls between 1 and 8 p.m., so state patrol's surge went from 1 to 6 p.m. In that timeframe, CSP stopped 106 vehicles.
Sixty stops were for moving violations, like speeding or weaving.
Ozanic tells WesternSlopeNow these monthly surges started in 2023, and their statistics showed a 67% decrease in serious injury and fatal crashes. 2024's numbers show a similar result.
He says the location of each surge, just like the last one, is depicted by the area with the highest reports of reckless driving.
To report a driver, call either 911 or *CSP.