By Jeannette Boner
Jackson Hole News&Guide
Via- Wyoming News Exchange

JACKSON — Starting this fall, drivers of certain heavy vehicles will be prohibited from using Teton Pass unless they complete a new self-certification program, the Wyoming Department of Transportation announced Thursday.

WYDOT plans to launch the WY22 Safe Pass program as early as October, although details about enforcement, public outreach and the certification process are still being developed.

The program will prohibit drivers of recreational vehicles, motorists towing trailers and operators of vehicles weighing or rated for more than 10,000 pounds from traveling Teton Pass without certification.

“This program is not intended to replace other legal requirements to maintain control of your vehicle,” WYDOT Director Darin Westby said in a news release. “It’s a self-certification process that helps people look at this pass and acknowledge, ‘Yes, I am confident in my equipment and ability to navigate Teton Pass safely.’ ”

The online certification will require drivers to provide basic information and review educational materials about navigating steep grades, preventing and responding to brake fade, complying with weight and load limits and safely operating vehicles on mountain passes, according to the news release.

It will also provide information about alternate routes for drivers who decide not to take Teton Pass.

Once applicants complete the process, WYDOT will send them a certification letter valid for one year. Drivers will then be required to reapply annually.

All existing regulations, including seasonal closures and the pass’s 60,000-pound weight limit, will remain in effect. While the Safe Pass program would require drivers to review safety information, it would rely on them to certify their own equipment.

The program follows a series of crashes and other vehicle incidents on Teton Pass that killed three people and sent several others to area hospitals this summer. It also comes as public officials and community advocates press the state to impose additional restrictions on large and potentially high-risk vehicles using the steep mountain highway.

This week, Wyoming Highway Patrol conducted a two-day commercial vehicle inspection at the weigh station near the base of Teton Pass, just east of the Idaho state line. The operation was intended to educate commercial drivers and identify safety violations before trucks and trailers began the climb over the roughly 8,400-foot pass.

Recreational vehicles, however, were not required to stop.

Trooper Brad Latchaw said both traffic and crashes on Teton Pass have increased since he began regularly patrolling Wyoming Highway 22 two years ago. Noting the RVs passing the inspection station, Latchaw said Wyoming should consider requiring large noncommercial vehicles to stop for brake and safety inspections, particularly before descending toward Wilson.

Starting Sept. 21, WYDOT also plans to install stronger brake-check, low-gear and escape-ramp warnings on Teton Pass.

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