Editor’s note: This is part three of a four-part series focusing on this year’s record-breaking pace of traffic deaths in Colorado Springs and efforts underway to reverse that trend. The series is being produced in conjunction with Gazette news partner KKTV.

It’s been five years since community fashion icon Jean Davis was killed in a head-on crash with a vehicle racing 90 mph down Constitution Avenue, but the pain of her loss lingers.

“She had a heart of gold and is missed every day by a lot of people, not just our family but the community,” longtime family friend Ann Laird recently told Gazette news partner KKTV.

Davis had been driving home from a church dinner at a friend’s house on June 26, 2013, when she was hit head-on by 25-year-old Charlene Erickson. Both Davis, 84, and Erickson were killed.

Laird, who affectionately referred to Davis as “Aunt Jean,” called the death “senseless.” She lamented how the need for speed and racing ended not only Davis’ life too soon, but also Erickson’s.

Laird said she is “dumbfounded” that street racing continues and has claimed more lives.

Records show Colorado Springs police are investigating “excessive speeds” and possible racing as factors in at least seven of this year’s 37 fatal crashes, including two this week.

On Sunday, 33-year-old Roger Snyder was believed to be racing and driving at an “extreme speed” when he rolled his Subaru sedan at North Academy and Constitution. Just over 24 hours later, Benjamin Curley, 32, died after speeding and running a red light at Woodmen Road, where he slammed into the side of a pickup truck turning onto Academy Boulevard.

“What happened to common courtesy and common sense?” Laird asked. “You just don’t do that.”

Apparently, there are many drivers who don’t see it the same way.

Colorado Springs police pulled records mentioning “racing” and found that incidents more than doubled in May of this year — to nearly 90 — compared with the four months prior, and has continued to climb, with 103 incidents reported in July.

Additionally, officers this year have written more tickets (1,794) for speeding 20 mph or more over the limit, driving recklessly or engaging in a “speed contest” than they did in any other year since 2014.

A heat map produced by the Police Department marked racing “hot spots” along Powers Boulevard — especially near Astrozon Boulevard and Aviation Way — on I-25 near Cimarron Street, down Platte Avenue and near Palmer Park and Babcock roads.

Many of this year’s fatal crashes were in those hot spots, though they were attributed to more than just speed and racing. Aggressive driving, drunken driving and neglect for pedestrian safety also are contributing to what police believe will be the second record-setting year in a row for traffic fatalities, after 39 deaths were reported last year.

It’s a record the city doesn’t want to set, Lt. John Koch said.

“People tend to get a sense of superhuman strength sometimes when they’re behind the wheel of their car because it’s an enclosed environment,” Koch said. “You do those things at your own significant risk.”

Yet, racers continue to line up just about every weekend to test their luck along stretches of roadway throughout the city. Their predictability was illustrated in almost comical fashion during a Gazette ride-along with officer Kyle Bergstreser in August.

About 10 p.m. while driving east on Platte Avenue, Bergstreser rolled down his window, suggesting that the rider “just listen, you’ll hear when they’re out.” Right on cue, four souped-up sedans pulled up next to him, their exhausts revving.

He followed them to Wooten Road, where they frequently gather at the Kum & Go to gas up before racing on Geiger Boulevard, a straight strip of road through an industrial district one block over from residential neighborhoods. Another officer called Bergstreser warning he’d just broken up a group of car enthusiasts farther north.

“They’ll be heading this way,” Bergstreser said.

Within minutes, the collection of a hundred headlights forming parallel lines down Geiger Boulevard was unmistakable, like something out of “The Fast and the Furious” trilogy. Bergstreser circled around and came in from the west, catching two racers just taking off east. He flipped on his lights to pursue but the throng of spectators in the roadway ignored him, refusing to move.

The vehicles sped away and out of sight. For safety reasons, Bergstreser didn’t follow.

Instead, he and two other officers started writing tickets to those who stayed behind, watching. One ticket went to a motorcyclist with no license plate, a problem police said they see often with racers blocking them in and baiting them to chase. Another ticket went to a driver parked directly in front of a no-parking sign.

After that, drivers quickly started to scatter, including the owner of an ice cream truck who was there selling treats.

Koch says that police are limited by what they can do to stop racing.

“It’s not just a matter of us going in and starting to arrest people and issue tickets,” he said. “It’s a lot more complex than that.”

In June, police and the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office partnered with the Pikes Peak International Raceway to announce “Off The Street Drags” as a safe and legal alternative to street racing, but the two events held this year have had mixed participation, raceway manager Jared Thompson said.

The first event in August brought in about 50 drivers and a couple of hundred spectators, and the second event had about 30 participants, Thompson said.

The next racing event is scheduled for Oct. 20 and costs $25 to participate and $10 to watch. More information can be found at offthestreetdrags.com.

Editors note: An earlier version of this story misidentified the suspected cause of Benjamin Curley’s crash. He was speeding and running a red light when he crashed into another vehicle. Street racing is not suspected.