Garfield County sees many fatal crashes along I-70

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- The stretch of Interstate 70 in Garfield County sees more fatal crashes than any other stretch of the highway west of the Denver metro area.

The Post Independent reports (http://bit.ly/2hPWoPG ) that according to crash data from the Colorado Department of Transportation, from 2006 to 2015, the I-70 corridor west of the Denver metro area has seen 160 fatal wrecks, killing 181 people. Of those, 47 crashes killing 55 people have been in Garfield County.

The Garfield County numbers are high, especially since the interstate goes from mountainous areas of Clear Creek County, Summit County and Vail Pass before flattening out into long straightaways in Garfield County.

Many of those wrecks occurred during good driving conditions. In that 10-year period, 131 crashes in western Colorado occurred on dry roads and 87 occurred during daylight.