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In the past 10 years, 19 people have died in car accidents on Colorado Highway 9.

Four of those deaths have occurred in the past 10 days, and all the victims were traveling to or from Steamboat.

Despite the recent rash of fatalities, a Summit County commissioner, a Colorado State Patrol trooper and a Colorado Department of Transportation official said the road is relatively safe and has a low fatality rate when compared to other roadways throughout the state and even Summit County.

"It is safe to say for two-lane roads, it isn't our worst two-lane road," Colorado State Patrol Cpl. Joe Hurt said. "But, there is bad passing, speeding, DUIs and generally just inattentive driving."

A 37-mile stretch of Colo. 9 links U.S. Highway 40 at Kremmling and Interstate 70 at Silverthorne. The road is a combination of straight-a-ways and sharp turns. Its most dangerous section winds by Green Mountain Reservoir.

From 1993 to 2002, 935 accidents and 419 injuries have been reported on Colo. 9, whose daily traffic count over that time period averaged 4,369 vehicles.

Nancy Shanks, a spokeswoman with the Colorado Department of Transportation, said the highway may have the perception of a dangerous road, but statistics show otherwise.

CDOT has a formula that incorporates the condition of the highway, number of accidents and other safety factors. It is called the Weighted Hazard Index.

Colo. 9 between Silverthorne and Kremmling has a Weighted Hazard Index of 0.07. The average is zero, which means according to CDOT, Colo. 9 is only slightly more hazardous than the average road.

Some Colorado highways can have a Weighted Hazard Index as high as 2 or 3, and the safer-than-average highways have negative index ratings.

Officials do say improving Colo. 9 is a priority. For the past few years, improvements have been made on the stretch of road from the Ute Pass Road turnoff all the way into Silverthorne. This year, CDOT is working on upgrading the bridge outside of Kremmling.

Of the 37 miles, just eight are classified by CDOT as being in good or fair surface condition. The rest of the miles are listed as poor. The first four miles out of Silverthorne are listed as good and a four-mile stretch between mileposts 121 and 125 is listed as fair.

"The highway does need shoulders," Shanks said. "A lot of two-lane highways were built when standards were different."

Shanks said Colo. 9 is a priority for the department.

Summit County Commissioner Gary Lindstrom is familiar with Colo. 9 and the deaths that have happened on it. Before becoming commissioner, Lindstrom worked as the county coroner for eight years and was with the Summit County Sheriff's Department for 19 years.

In the past four or five years, he said, Colo. 9 has seen major improvements. It also has seen major growth.

Traffic continues to increase on the road that is the fastest link between Steamboat and the Front Range and a connection to one of only three highways that runs east to west across the state.

"It is just incredible. It seems like every July and August, new (traffic) records are set," Lindstrom said.

CDOT statistics showed the daily average traffic count to be a little more than 8,100 in 2002, compared with the nine-year average from 1993 to 2002 of 4,369.

Lindstrom believes that just half of the drivers are people who live or work in Summit County.

After the two July accidents, Lindstrom said the county contacted CDOT and asked the department to take a look at the road. But Colo. 9 has been discussed long before last week. Almost two years ago, Routt County Commissioner Dan Ellison contacted the Summit County commissioners asking them to make Colo. 9 a priority in their 20-year transportation plan.

On July 29, Francis Fry, 69, died in a two-vehicle accident along Colo. 9. State Patrol reported that Fry was northbound when he drove into the southbound lane into oncoming traffic. An Aurora man traveling south swerved into the northbound lane. Fry did the same and the vehicles collided.

Fry's accident was less than five miles from where three Slovakian women were killed the day before in a car accident on Colo. 9. Miriana Feketova, 21, Nina Huskova, 22, and Monika Grigova, 23, died from injuries suffered in the accident. The driver, Juraj Polerecky, 22, and another passenger, Gabriel Stasko, 22, survived the accident. All five worked in Steamboat.

State Patrol reported that a Kenworth tanker truck rear-ended the 1993 Mercury Tracer driven by Polerecky. State Patrol said both were traveling south when the tanker moved in the northbound lane to pass several vehicles, including the Tracer. The Tracer swerved in front of the truck, possibly trying to pass as well, but was going slower than the tanker, which could not stop in time to avoid hitting the Tracer.

"(Colo. 9) has a fewer amount of fatalities compared to a lot of other areas in the state," Hurt said. "It has just gotten a lot of attention lately."

Since those two accidents, the State Patrol has stepped up its law enforcement in that area.

Last week Hurt said the department placed seven troopers in the area near the Green Mountain Reservoir. And just days after four people had died in that area, Hurt said, they were clocking cars going 80 mph on a road posted at 55 mph.

The troopers were stopping drivers and telling them to slow down, warning them four people had just died along that stretch of highway. Most of the drivers said they had heard about the deaths. It's part of an education campaign, but Hurt said the lesson does not last long.

"I think it only makes an impression for about a week. Then they go back to driving (the speed) they were driving before," he said.

Hurt said State Patrol rarely has the manpower for such enforcement. With one officer on duty in that area on a typical day, it is more of a reactive agency.

Lindstrom said there were discussions about making the stretch through Green Mountain Reservoir a no-passing zone. It could help, but even with a no-passing zone drivers likely would pass, Hurt said.

He does believe some vehicles are moving too fast through the Green Mountain Reservoir area. At one time, the area had been posted as 65 mph, but Lindstrom said the speed limit was reduced to 55 mph at State Patrol's request. And as the road improved, Lindstrom said, the speed has only increased.

"One of the problems, (drivers) are starting to look at it like a race course," he said. "They get up speed and feel confident going through the curves at 75 (mph). They think it is fun and exciting."

Most of the accidents occur from inattentive drivers, not speed, Hurt said.

"Drivers don't pay attention and just drive off the road," Hurt said.

Another component is the state patrol's years of struggle to get drivers and passengers to wear seat belts. None of the victims in the most recent fatalities was wearing a seat belt. Hurt said the deaths of the three Slovakian women could have been prevented if they had been wearing seat belts.