Colorado joining ‘zero deaths’ traffic safety plan

Colorado is signing on to a national effort to reduce traffic deaths dramatically – all the way to zero.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper plans to tout the effort Monday afternoon at the Capitol.

Six years ago the national Governors Highway Safety Association issued a plan “Toward Zero Deaths.”

Colorado officials say the effort here will include public safety awareness efforts, as well as engineering changes to roads. The plan could also include improvements to emergency service response, so that medical assistance is faster.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported that the chances of a driver dying in a crash in a late-model car or light truck fell by more than a third over three years,. Nine car models had zero deaths per million registered vehicles.