Awards

Trooper recognized for outstanding work in crash investigations

Event recognizes National Crime Victims’ Rights Week each April

By Jordan Achs

Wyoming Highway Patrol Lt. Tyler Chapman was recognized April 29 during the 2023 Run with the Badges event in Green River hosted by the Sweetwater County YWCA.

The annual event includes 5K and 10K races and is part of a larger observation of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, which takes place annually the last week of April. It’s a chance to honor crime victims, promote victim rights, and recognize victim advocates, including local law enforcement officers in their efforts to bring justice to victims.

Sweetwater County attorney Dan Erramouspe presented the 2023 National Crime Victims’ Rights Week recognition plaques to local law enforcement officers and victim advocates, including Chapman for his outstanding work in recent crash investigations.

Chapman is based in Rawlins but his jurisdiction covers both Carbon and Sweetwater counties, responding to calls along parts of Interstate 80 that see some of the worst weather and road conditions.

“I’m very appreciative of the recognition,” Chapman said. “A crash is such a tragic event, I feel like I owe it to the family to do the best job I can with crash reconstruction. It’s the families, they’re the reason we do what we do.”

2017-2021, the top five types of wild animals included deer (84 percent), pronghorn (8.4 percent), elk (4.6 percent), moose (1.4 percent), and other wild animal (1.5 percent).

In 2017-2021, most wildlife collisions occurred in dark and unlighted conditions (59 percent), followed by daylight (25 percent), dawn (8 percent), dusk (5 percent), and then dark and lighted (3 percent) conditions. Approximately half (51 percent) of all wildlife collisions occurred between the hours of 5 p.m. and 11 p.m., and nearly 20 percent occurred between the hours of 5 a.m. and 8 a.m.

Most wildlife-involved crashes in 2017-2021 occurred during the summer and fall months (68 percent), with November having the highest number of collisions with wildlife (14.8 percent).

For the most recent five-year period (2017-2021), the top five counties with the highest number of wildlife-involved crashes included Fremont (10.8 percent), Park (7.2 percent), Campbell (7.1 percent), Sheridan (6.9 percent), and Natrona (6.4 percent).

Other local law enforcement agencies were also recognized during the event, including Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, Green River Police Department and the Rock Springs Police Department.

Fremont County had the highest number of deer (11.2 percent) and other wild animal (11.2 percent) collisions. Campbell County had the highest number of pronghorn collisions (14.6 percent). Teton County had the highest number of elk (17.9 percent) and bison (45.5 percent) collisions. Sublette County had the highest number of moose collisions (29 percent).

State and local transportation agencies look for ways to meet the needs of the traveling public, maintain human safety, and conserve wildlife. WYDOT continues to collaborate with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, nonprofit organizations, and other interested parties in implementing solutions to wildlife-vehicle crashes and remain consistent with the Governor’s Wyoming Mule Deer and Antelope Migration Corridor Protection Executive Order 2020-1.

Large Truck-Involved Crashes

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration classifies trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 10,000 pounds as a “large vehicle.” Large truck traffic is commonplace on Wyoming roadways. Interstate 80 through southern Wyoming is one of the busiest commercial motor vehicle corridors in the United States. The varied terrain in Wyoming includes mountain passes that can reduce truck speeds to a crawl in addition to challenging weather conditions that often include winds that can topple light trucks. This means large trucks, such as tractor-trailer combinations, on Wyoming roadways can present a hazard for motorists.

In Wyoming, during the most recent five-year period (20172021), 7,599 traffic crashes involved large trucks, which accounts for nearly 11 percent of all traffic crashes. These large truck-involved crashes included 336 critical crashes (15.5 percent of all critical crashes), 1,136 serious crashes (10.7 percent of all serious crashes), and 6,127 damage crashes (10.7 percent of all damage crashes). Large truck-involved crashes resulted in 117 fatal injuries, 303 suspected serious injuries, 937 suspected minor injuries, and 686 possible injuries. When looking at fatal crashes specifically, large truck-involved crashes account for 18.5 percent of fatal crashes and 18.9 percent of fatalities.

The majority of large-truck involved crashes involved a commercial motor vehicle (95.6 percent). Most large trucks involved in traffic crashes were classified as “heavy” with a GVWR of greater than 26,000 pounds (89.4 percent), while 10.6 percent of large trucks were classified as “medium” with a GVWR of 10,001 – 26,000 pounds.

Most large truck-involved crashes were collisions with a non-fixed object (50 percent), with another motor vehicle on

Seat Belt Safety

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, one of the safest choices drivers and passengers can make is to buckle up. No matter the type of vehicle, or the type of road being traveled on, the easiest way to try to stay safe in case of a motor vehicle crash is to wear a seat belt. Buckling up is the simplest thing to limit injury or save a life during a crash and seat belt use should be an automatic habit for drivers and passengers alike. Using a seat belt is not just a safe, easy, simple choice to make – it’s the law.

In Wyoming, during the most recent five-year period (20172021), there were 474 motor vehicle occupant fatalities and over half (247; 52 percent) were not using a seat belt at the time of the crash. An additional three percent (14) were not using a seat belt correctly at the time of the crash. Men make up the majority of those killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes. Of the motor vehicle occupant fatalities from 2017-2021, 69 percent were male. Men also wear seat belts at a lower rate than women do. More than half (54 percent) of all male motor vehicle occupant fatalities the roadway accounting for 87.5 percent of these crashes. Non-collision crashes accounted for 37 percent of large truck-involved crashes, with 45 percent of these classified as jackknife crashes and 38.7 percent classified as overturn/rollover crashes (30.5 percent of these being blow-over crashes). Only 13 percent of large truck-involved crashes had a collision with a fixed object as the first harmful event, with 19.3 percent striking a guardrail, 13.2 percent striking a cable barrier, and 13.2 percent striking a fence. were not using a seat belt at the time of the crash. For all female motor vehicle occupant fatalities, 48 percent were not using a seat belt at the time of the crash.

The majority of large truck-involved crashes occurred on Wyoming interstates, which accounted for 61.1 percent of all large truck-involved crashes. Interstate 80 experienced the largest number of large-truck involved interstate crashes at 81.6 percent of all large truck-involved interstate crashes.

Nearly half (46.7 percent) of all Interstate 80 crashes involved a large truck, compared to 15.4 percent of all Interstate 25 crashes and 6.9 percent of all Interstate 90 crashes.

Wyoming is always exploring new ways to ensure commerce can move freely within and through the state while maintaining a safe environment for motorists, including education campaigns to raise awareness of the difficulties and hazards posed by commercial motor vehicles on the roadways.

The majority of all 2017-2021 motor vehicle occupant fatalities for all age groups under 65 years old were unbelted at the time of the crash. Among young motor vehicle occupant fatalities younger than 26 years old, 54 percent were unrestrained, while 59 percent of 26 to 44 year old fatalities were unbuckled, and 54 percent of 45 to 64 year old fatalities were not using a seat belt.