(EL PASO COUNTY, Colo.) — For a 24-hour period, law enforcement agencies in El Paso County are joining forces for a concentrated effort to remove dangerous drivers from roads in the greater Colorado Springs area.

According to the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) starting at 5 p.m. on Friday, March, 10, law enforcement will be patrolling specific areas of I-25 for speeding, distracted, aggressive and impaired drivers.

“The Surge Enforcement Team” is in response to an increase in speeding and dangerous driving in El Paso County. According to data recently released by the CDOT, El Paso County had the most road fatalities of any Colorado county in 2022. In 2022, 28% of all roadway fatalities in El Paso involved speeding, between 2021 and 2022, the county saw a 57% increase in speeding-related fatalities.

“Something is going on in El Paso County. We’re seeing a lot more speeding, a lot more aggressive drivers, and a lot more high-risk driving in general,” said Lt. Christopher Gonzalez of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office. “We want to not only remove these drivers from the road but also raise awareness to hopefully shift these trends and prevent more fatalities in our community.” 

CDOT said this is the first of four surge enforcement periods in El Paso County this year. The patrols will focus on I-25 between mile points 116-163, from Wigwam to Monument. The next surge enforcement will happen in June.

“While it is a one-day, focused enforcement period, speeding, aggressive, distracted, and impaired drivers are what our officers are patrolling for every day,” said Commander Dan Thompson of the Colorado Springs Police Department. “This is about bringing awareness to how dangerous and preventable these behaviors are. Our neighbors, friends, and family members are being killed due to the poor decisions of reckless drivers.”