Procession of Hearses through Colorado Springs this Friday
CDOT to send hearses through Colorado Springs after 25 deaths on roads in El Paso County this year - CBS Colorado (cbsnews.com)
CDOT to send hearses through Colorado Springs after 25 deaths on roads in El Paso County this year
A fleet of hearses will move through Colorado Springs on Friday in what the Colorado Department of Transportation hopes will be a "somber reminder" to residents about the importance of using seat belts. CDOT is arranging the symbolic procession to draw attention to what it calls the "serious consequence of not using a seat belt."
Colorado Springs was picked as the location for the procession in part because it is the county seat of El Paso County, which is the Colorado county with the highest number of roadway fatalities so far this year. There have been 25 deaths in 2023. The county had 83 fatalities last year, and about half of those people who died in crashes didn't have their seat belt on.
Statewide there were 479 people killed in car crashes last year and 236 of those people weren't wearing a seat belt. CDOT says Colorado's seat belt use rate is below the national average.
Friday's procession will start in the early afternoon and will run along a 12 mile route that includes Nevada Avenue (CanAm Highway), Cascade Avenue, 8th Street, Pikes Peak Avenue, Bijou Street and Colorado Avenue. There will be three hearses going down the route.
Members of the Colorado Springs Police Department and the Colorado State Patrol will be joining CDOT for a news conference before the start of the procession.
