By Jeannette Boner
Jackson Hole News&Guide
Via- Wyoming News Exchange
JACKSON — The Wyoming Department of Transportation will install stronger brake check, low gear and escape ramp warnings on Teton Pass beginning Sept. 21, addressing several concerns raised by safety advocates, while stopping short of answering their calls for temporary vehicle restrictions and inspections.
The work follows three serious crashes on the eastern descent in eight weeks, including two that killed three people in total.
The most recent crash killed Javier De Luna Chavez, 41, of Colorado, on Wednesday when a pickup hauling a flatbed trailer loaded with rocks left the highway and rolled near milepost 7.
Following the July 7 runaway dump truck crash that killed Nicholas Besobrasow, 66, and David Page, 57, concerned citizens formed the Make Teton Pass Safer coalition. WYDOT’s recent announcement answers one of the coalition’s appeals, but it does not fulfill its central request for a temporary prohibition on vehicle types it considers particularly dangerous on the pass.
In a news release, WYDOT added that the state agency is, “Actively reviewing safety improvements and future infrastructure enhancements as part of our State Transportation Improvement Plan process.”
Jared Smith with the grassroots safety coalition said signage alone is not sufficient, as increasingly varied and heavy vehicles cross the steep mountain highway.
The Make Teton Pass Safer group has proposed a moratorium until additional safeguards are implemented that could include semitrailers, dump trucks, large RVs, fifth-wheel trailers and vehicles pulling trailers over a designated length.
The coalition also requested a temporary staffed checkpoint at the Wyoming-Idaho state line where trucks, RVs and vehicles towing trailers would be required to stop for instructions and brake and gear checks.
WYDOT’s announcement does not say whether the new “Must Stop Brake Check” signs create an enforceable requirement, which vehicles must stop, what drivers will be expected to inspect or whether anyone will staff the brake-check area.
WYDOT traffic crews will work from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for three days to install the new warnings. Drivers should expect lane closures, flagger-controlled traffic and short delays later this month.
Last week’s fatal crash came a day after Teton County Prosecutor Dick Stout filed two misdemeanor counts of homicide by vehicle against Laiton George McMinn, 22, of Ririe, Idaho.
McMinn’s first appearance in Teton County Circuit Court is scheduled for Wednesday.
McMinn was driving an asphalt-laden dump truck east toward Wilson on July 7 when its brakes overheated and lost stopping power, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The fatal collision has been followed by a series of serious incidents involving RVs or vehicles pulling trailers on the eastbound descent.
About a week after the July 7 crash, an RV lost its brakes while traveling toward Wilson.
On Aug. 17, another RV pulling a trailer crossed the centerline, collided with an oncoming vehicle and struck a rock wall near the base of the pass. The motor home overturned with five family members inside, including an 11-year-old girl who was trapped and struggling to breathe.
Six days later, another motor home developed overheated brakes while descending toward Wilson. Its driver pulled over near the runaway truck ramp after smelling the brakes and had the RV towed down the remainder of the pass.
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