CASPER — Geraldine Henrikson has a few choice words for drivers who treat East Second Street like their own personal racetrack.
"They drive like maniacs," she said on Tuesday morning.
She's talking about motorcycles weaving through traffic, pickups racing cars and drivers moving so fast that pulling onto Second Street from a neighborhood side road can be downright frightening.
Henrikson lives near East Second Street, across from Albertsons, and said that she's watched the same dangerous behavior throughout the summer and fall.
She's not alone.
Frank Sanchez, an Uber driver who spends his weekend evenings hauling passengers around Casper, said it's been going on for at least two years.
"Kids that are on those bikes, the crotch rockets — they race up and down Second Street like it's a dragway," Sanchez said. "They'll do wheelies for a block, half a block at high speeds, and I see it every weekend."
East Second Street is one of Casper’s main east-west thoroughfares, carrying drivers between downtown, residential neighborhoods and busy shopping areas.
Weekend Dragway
Sanchez knows Casper's streets better than most.
As an Uber driver, he's out when other people are heading home for the night. He's seen the traffic around bars, restaurants and neighborhoods.
He said East Second Street gets particularly wild on weekends, generally between 8 and 10:30 p.m.
Motorcycles, cars and pickups tear down the street, racing side by side.
Asked why he thinks they do it, Sanchez said it could be “machismo. I don't know. I think it's just ridiculous."
Sanchez said the behavior is so common that he expects to see it — and it isn't limited to Second Street.
He's seen motorcycles speeding along McKinley Street between 15th and 18th streets, estimating some were driving 70 to 75 mph.
He's also watched drivers race through downtown Casper going 50 or 60 mph.
"It perturbs me, if you know what I mean,” Sanchez said. "It just it gets under my skin because all it takes is, and then they'll start swerving in their own lanes.
"And I'm like, man, all it takes is for you guys to mess up once your foot peg hit the the pavement. You're gonna flip that bike."
Sanchez hasn't personally witnessed a crash caused by the behavior, but he worries it's only a matter of time before somebody makes a mistake he can't walk away from.
Neighborhood Nerves
For Henrikson, the danger isn't just somebody doing a wheelie or racing another car down the street.
It's trying to get onto Second Street in the first place.
"You don't know what speed they're going, you know? So, you just have to sit there and wait,” she said.
Henrikson said she has watched motorcycles, cars and pickups racing along the road during August, September and October.
“I mean, they think they’re cool on these bikes or in their vehicles,” Henrikson said. “And I’ve seen them doing 60, 70 mph.”
Another problem is that, besides the danger, they’re loud, she said. After dark, she hears the roar of engines as motorcycles, cars and pickups tear along the street — sometimes followed by sirens.
She remembers when young people gathered along CY Avenue to cruise around and show off their cars.
Now, she said drivers seem to gather around businesses like the nearby Dairy Queen before taking off down the road.
She's also concerned that these drivers often forego helmets and protective gear, and she's even some wearing slippers.
"Back when we were growing up, you know, CY was the hot spot," Henrikson said. "But now it seems like Second Street is the hot spot."
Racing Allegation
At about 9:30 p.m. Oct. 27, Casper Police Officer Kaysia Skinner spotted a dark-colored pickup that appeared to be racing a white car westbound on East Second Street, she wrote in an affidavit filed in Natrona County Circuit Court.
Skinner turned around and followed the pickup, which tore toward downtown and ran a red light.
When Skinner activated her emergency lights and siren, the pickup didn't stop.
Instead, the driver allegedly switched off his headlights and taillights and continued weaving through traffic.
Skinner called off the pursuit as the pickup drove erratically, fearing the chase was putting other drivers in danger. But the pickup kept going
Mills police later spotted the truck speeding west along Yellowstone Highway. An officer clocked it at 82 mph in a 40 mph zone.
The driver allegedly continued fleeing, sometimes reaching an estimated 105 mph while running red lights and driving on the wrong side of the road.
Two young women riding in the pickup told police they repeatedly begged the driver to slow down and stop.
The chase ended near Twelve Mile Road after the truck ran off the pavement during a turn.
Police identified the driver as Julien Reeves, who denied racing another vehicle but acknowledged trying to get away from officers.
Five Of Ten
The complaints about East Second Street aren't new.
Eight years ago, Casper police identified the city's 10 intersections with the worst crash records, using data collected by the agency and the Wyoming Department of Transportation.
Half of them were on East Second Street.
The five intersections were at Wyoming Boulevard, Beverly Street, McKinley Street, Forest Drive and Center Street.
That's five of Casper's 10 worst crash intersections along one road.
Police responded with a program called Traffic Watch, concentrating enforcement at intersections where drivers were most frequently getting into wrecks.
The idea was to put officers where crashes were happening most often, rather than waiting for another wreck before taking action.
Years later, city transportation studies continued to identify several East Second Street intersections among Casper's most crash-prone
In 2019, Casper City Council members tried slowing drivers down by lowering the speed limit to 20 mph along part of East Second Street between McKinley Street and downtown, but the experiment was short-lived.
Drivers complained, and city officials found the lower speed limit wasn't making much difference.
A city memo said traffic tended to speed up between downtown and the hospital, and early crash figures showed little improvement.
By December, council reversed course, restoring the 30 mph speed limit after the lower limit failed to noticeably reduce crashes.
Triple-Digit Speed
The following year, Casper police arrested a driver clocked at 108 mph in a 40 mph zone on East Second Street.
At that speed, a vehicle covers roughly 158 feet every second — more than half a football field — according to speed conversion formulas used by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The arrest came during a six-hour traffic crackdown on May 9, 2020, when officers pulled over 60 drivers and issued 17 citations.
Since then, the city's efforts to rein in dangerous driving haven't stopped.
During an Oct. 13 City Council work session, Casper Police Chief Shane Chaney outlined the department's latest neighborhood policing efforts, including a push to address reckless driving on the city's east side.
Residents had raised concerns about dangerous driving, particularly near schools.
In response, Chaney said police stationed a radar speed trailer on East Second Street in late August and reported more than 420 traffic stops as part of a broader east-side enforcement initiative.
Still, for residents like Henrikson and Sanchez, the problem is far from settled.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
