Editor’s note: This story is a three-part series. Please stay tuned to our December 22 issue for part two and our December 29 issue for part three. 

TORRINGTON – At the entrance of Torrington Police Department stretches a banner with the smiling faces of eight University of Wyoming cross-country runners: Cody Brown, Joshua Jones, Justin Lambert-Belanger, Kevin Salverson, Kyle Johnson, Morgan McLeland, Nicholas Schabron and Shane Shatto.

On September 16, 2001, their lives were cut short when, sometime after midnight, a pickup driven by another University of Wyoming student, crossed the center line on Wyoming Highway 287. The pickup truck slammed into the Jeep in the opposite lane, hitting the vehicle head-on. 

When the pickup crossed the center line, all eight occupants of the Jeep were killed instantly. 

“When looking at critical crashes over the last five years, nearly 41.3% of fatal crashes and 22.7% of suspected serious injury crashes were impaired crashes,” reads the Wyoming Report on Traffic Crashes issued from the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) for 2022. 

The number of traffic fatalities for October 2022 on Wyoming roadways totaled 118.

The number of traffic fatalities for October 2023 on Wyoming roadways totals 123.

To date, the accident is listed as the worst single loss of life from a vehicle in Wyoming’s history. 

The driver of the pickup, Clinton Haskins, plead guilty and served 10 years at the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins.  Since his release, Haskins has become a spokesperson for sobriety. 

Haskins emphasizes all eight young men would be alive today had he not made the decision to drink and drive. 

An average drunk driver drives drunk 80 times before they are arrested, according to the WYDOT.

“We are probably second highest in total roadway deaths in a five-year period,” Torrington Police Chief, Matt Johnson, said. “If you look at that from a numbers impact, we look at 123 people lost from 2022 to 2023 and you figure that at 41.3%. That’s almost 51 lives that would have been saved had someone not make an incredibly selfish, and thoughtless decision.”

One-third of drivers arrested for drunk driving are repeat offenders according to WYDOT. 

“You quantify that with 50 families,” Johnson continued. “Not just the 50 families that were immediately impacted by the person that was lost, but their extended family. Then you look at the life of the suspect, because many times they were probably not a terrible person to start off with. They immediately go from being a contributing member of society and feasible, to someone who is essentially on the same level as a homicide suspect now.” 

The average blood-alcohol content (BAC) of people arrested for a DUI in Wyoming is almost double the legal limit, according to WYDOT. 

“Ultimately, driving drunk is one of the most selfish things you could do,” Johnson said. “It is a total lack of forethought and planning. The notion of consuming alcohol takes away your natural judgement, and it focuses on what I am doing now to have fun. It leaves us in that place where all we do is focus on having fun. We don’t have the capacity to think into the future.”

The consequences for a first-time DUI offense is up to a 180 day suspended license. 

“It increases to a year if you get a second DUI offense in ten years,” according to Johnson. 

“One of the most important things we can do to address and talk about drunk driving is to encourage people, if you haven’t planned ahead for a ride home, to just not drink,” Johnson said.  

The City of Torrington can charge a driving while under the influence offender into Municipal or Circuit Court according to Johnson, depending on the circumstances.

“One of the things that has always struck me is, we often enjoy our freedoms without the corresponding responsibility that goes with them,” Johnson said. 

“Drinking and driving is heartbreaking. It is especially painful because of how senseless it is,” Johnson said.