COLORADO, USA — The story behind those eye-catching “don’t be fooled” signs along eastbound I-70, which practically beg truckers approaching Denver to drive safely, begins in 1989 with a tragic accident Chris Henning will never forget.
“It’s always still very fresh even though it was almost 30 years ago,” Henning said, glancing at the magnified microfilm on his computer screen. “This is the Denver Post from August 14, 1989, and the front page [headline]: ‘Crash kills 2 people, 40 horses. Semi out of control.’”
Henning is the communications manager for the Denver Public Library. On August 13, 1989, he was witness to the aftermath of a horrific crash on I-70 near the Morrison exit. The driver of a tractor-trailer carrying 44 horses lost control and rammed several cars before turning over in the eastbound lanes of the interstate. Two people were killed, seven were injured and 40 horses were killed. Many of the horses died in the crash, but others were put out of their misery by officers with pistols.
“That’s the thing that I remember the most, are horses in various stages of either dying, or they were trapped, or the sounds that they were making was just horrendous,” Henning recalled. “It was just a gruesome sight."
Dan Hopkins remembers the sight, too.
“It was certainly one of the worst,” he said.
Hopkins used to be the communications director for the Colorado Department of Highways, the predecessor to the Colorado Department of Transportation. He said a task force formed following a series of runaway truck crashes on I-70. The task force worked to find solutions and came up with a sign.
“One thing we came across was a project by Caltrans, [the] California Department of Transportation, on Donner Pass,” Hopkins said. “They had similar problems there and had erected some unusual signs.”
Hopkins said the Colorado task force came up with unusual signs its own.
“Well, you won’t find these signs anywhere else on the highways,” he said. “I think that’s what is unique. You don’t see a sign that says, ‘hey don’t be fooled.’ Or ‘you’re not down yet.’”
You’ll see the signs driving eastbound near Genesee Park, Morrison and as you get closer to Denver. Hopkins said the signs required an exemption from the Federal Highway Administration because they were so different.
“It’s everyday language,” Hopkins said. “It’s not a typical highway sign that’s very sterile, very conforming.”
Hopkins said the signs seemed to work.
“Certainly, at the time we kept statistics for a number of years afterwards, which showed a really marked decline in runaway truck accidents,” he said. “It did make a difference.”
Hopkins is convinced the signs spared lives and tragic headlines like the one from August 1989.
WATCH: 9NEWS' report on the 1989 crash (by current 9NEWS anchor Kim Christiansen)
