{"id":795568,"date":"2019-05-07T17:28:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T23:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/runaway-truck-ramps-near-silverthorne-are-the-most-frequently-used-in-the-state\/"},"modified":"2019-05-07T17:28:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-07T23:28:00","slug":"runaway-truck-ramps-near-silverthorne-are-the-most-frequently-used-in-the-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/runaway-truck-ramps-near-silverthorne-are-the-most-frequently-used-in-the-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Runaway truck ramps near Silverthorne are the most frequently used in the state"},"content":{"rendered":"
A truck was forced onto the runaway ramp of I-70 Westbound after losing its brakes in 2016.<\/strong>
Summit Daily file photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For those of us who live among the winding and often steeply graded roadways of the Rocky Mountains, seeing passenger vehicles spun out in the snow or semi-trucks pulled over to the side of the road while drivers strap on chains are frequent sights.<\/p>\n

For most of us, winter is the most treacherous time of the year on Summit County\u2019s roads. But in the summer, as the sun pounds against the blacktop on Interstate 70, truckers traveling through the corridor face other perilous challenges: speed and heat.<\/p>\n

Colorado\u2019s truck ramps made news late last month after a truck descending from the mountains crashed into the back of stopped traffic<\/a> near Denver West Parkway, killing four. The driver, Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, who allegedly chose not to use a runaway ramp, was charged with 40 counts, including four counts of vehicular homicide as a result of the crash. Just a day later, a video captured by Jesse Terrell of a smoking truck rocketing up a ramp near Silverthorne began making the rounds on social media.<\/p>\n

While the use of the runaway truck ramps may seem somewhat rare, even for those who travel I-70 often, officials say they\u2019re more common than we might think.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe latest figures that we have show that (truck ramps) have been used at least 57 times since 2016, according to Colorado State Patrol Reports,\u201d said Tamara Rollison, a communications manager with the Colorado Department of Transportation. \u201cThough that doesn\u2019t reflect all the usage, or all the times we\u2019ve observed trucks on the ramps.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rollison said that of the 13 runaway ramps in the state, the two most frequently used are on westbound I-70 on the west side of the Eisenhower\/Johnson Memorial Tunnels, at mile posts 209 and 212 just outside of Silverthorne.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re actually used quite frequently year round, but obviously more in the summer,\u201d said Colin Remillard, a spokesman with the Colorado State Patrol. \u201cI\u2019d say in the middle of the summer, when it\u2019s hot, sometimes we see it multiple times a week. I\u2019ve even been in the ramp dealing with a truck when another one comes in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Remillard said that while some trucks make their way onto the ramps due to mechanical failures, a vast majority of truckers using the ramps have brakes that overheat due to the temperature on roads and friction caused by excessive braking.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsually what they\u2019re supposed to be doing is coming out of the tunnel down multiple gears, and only use the brakes occasionally,\u201d said Remillard. \u201cA lot of these truckers don\u2019t drive around here frequently, so they just keep holding the brakes or pumping them \u2026 once they burn up the brakes, they can\u2019t stop and they keep picking up speed.\u201d<\/p>\n

While passenger vehicles have a 60 miles-per-hour speed limit coming out of the tunnel, semi-truck drivers are only allowed to go 35 miles-per-hour. Though Remillard said that drivers are constantly exceeding that limit, in large part because many aren\u2019t experienced driving the area, they\u2019re following the speed limits on their GPS devices and aren\u2019t prepared for the drop in elevation on the west side of the tunnel.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially in warm weather, troopers up here can stop trucks going over that limit all day long,\u201d said Remillard. \u201cAnd I think despite the fact that there\u2019s signs in the tunnel it does take some by surprise. People get going way too fast, and they come out of Denver where the whole way is up. I don\u2019t think they\u2019re prepared for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Remillard and Rollison noted that runaway truck ramps \u2014 built from heavy gravel \u2014 are very effective in stopping a truck in their tracks, and neither could recall any instances of major injuries or fatalities occurring on a ramp. Remillard noted that it\u2019s also exceedingly rare for a driver to receive a citation for using the ramp, as officials don\u2019t want to dissuade the use of safety precautions.<\/p>\n

Still there are some repercussions. Remillard said on top of towing costs \u2014 from miniscule to at much as $30,000 if it\u2019s up high, jackknifed and pinned against the ramp \u2014 using the ramp may also affect the company\u2019s federal safety rating, impacting issues surrounding insurance and regulations. But compared to the alternative, runaway truck ramps are an excellent escape option for truck drivers.<\/p>\n

CDOT offers a number of resources to help truck drivers prepare for driving in the mountains, including a dedicated page on COTrip.org<\/a> to educate truckers, and a Colorado Truck Parking Guide<\/a>, which outlines safety standards and maps runaway truck ramps.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re really essential,\u201d said Remillard. \u201cThese trucks are very heavy, dangerous weapons. And a lot of people ignore the signs. But they\u2019re there for a reason. Most of the truckers are pretty good about it, and when they\u2019re really out of control they end up taking a runaway ramp. It works, but when it isn\u2019t used the results can be catastrophic.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A truck was forced onto the runaway ramp of I-70 Westbound after losing its brakes in 2016.Summit Daily file photo For those of us who live among the winding and often steeply graded roadways of the Rocky Mountains, seeing passenger vehicles spun out in the snow or semi-trucks pulled over to the side of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-795568","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-15 07:44:32","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=795568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795568\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}