The Trouble with the Curve

by SDC Sentinel Staff
We’re not talking about the 2012 Clint Eastwood baseball movie. We’re talking about something much closer to home—the curves on Custer County highways.
The curve itself isn’t the real problem. The problem is the speed at which too many drivers try to take it. In baseball, speed helps you master the curve. On our mountain roads, speed works against you
every time.
This summer has been a busy one for rollovers. Just last week, a semi loaded with fresh Olathe sweet corn tipped over making it the county’s fourth commercial vehicle rollover of the year. Earlier this summer, it was a semi-truck hauling Bar-S hot dogs, sausage, and bologna.

When food trucks crash, the Wet Mountain Fire Protection District salvages what it can and shares with the community. A truckload of corn or hot dogs may make for a memorable potluck, but not every wreck leaves behind a consumable bounty. In July, a rollover involved potentially hazardous materials.
The pattern is apparent: Highway 69, especially along mile post numbers in the 40s and 60s, and the curves combined with drivers often pushing speeds higher than the highway number itself. So far, we’ve seen eight rollover crashes in Custer County this year. Once winter ice and snow arrives, that number is likely to climb.
Crash investigations fall mostly to the Colorado State Patrol, though Custer County Sheriff’s deputies often handle the calls due to an ongoing shortage of troopers. Either way, the data is reported to the Colorado Department of Transportation. Regardless of who is doing the paper-work, the manpower strain is real. The corn truck crash alone kept emergency crews tied up for 17 hours. The State Patrol arrived around 2:30 a.m. to investigate the accident and then departed, leaving Custer County Sheriff resources and the Wet Mountain Fire Department stretched thin.

These wrecks aren’t just about inconvenience, and  wearing out our first responders, they’re about safety.
Back in 2022, Custer County had one of the highest fatal crash rates in Colorado, with 12 crashes per 10,000 residents. That number has come down thanks to targeted traffic enforcement, especially in high-crash areas and spots where citizens report reckless driving.
Still, the temptation to speed remains. Many drivers believe a few extra miles per hour will save them time. But the numbers don’t back that up. A study by AAA Colorado found that traveling 80 mph instead of 75 mph saves just five minutes over 100 miles. For the average driver, speeding amounts to a daily savings of only 26 seconds.
The cost of that “time saved” can be deadly. In the past five years, more than 1,200 people have died in speeding related crashes across Colorado. According to CDOT’s 2025 Driver Behavior Report, 71 percent of Colorado drivers admit to speeding on highways at least some of the time.
So, if you are among the 71 percent, the next time you’re cruising above 65 mph on Highway 69, remember: speed might help a pitcher throw a perfect curve ball, but on our highways, speed is what causes trouble with the curve.