A 30-year-old truck driver from Florida died last weekend after plunging more than 125 feet off Wolf Creek Pass on U.S. Highway 160.

Colorado State Patrol Capt. Adrian Driscoll said the truck, a 2010 Volvo semi-truck, was headed west toward Pagosa Springs from South Fork.

Around 6 p.m. Saturday, the truck failed to negotiate the turn at the scenic overlook at mile marker 160, just before the highway begins a steep descent on the west side of the pass.

The truck, traveling too fast, went through the parking lot at the scenic overlook and 125 feet down the cliff, Driscoll said.

The driver, identified as Brandon Martinez, was taken by helicopter to a hospital. He died from his injuries around midnight, Driscoll said.

“He was driving way too fast,” Driscoll said.

The excessive speed caused the brakes to go out, he said. Martinez missed two runaway truck ramps before he went off the cliff, he said.

This particular section of the highway is notorious for semi-truck crashes, so much so that the Colorado Department of Transportation launched a “Beware the Wolf” campaign to alert drivers of the dangers.

Most crashes are the result of truck drivers driving too fast, CDOT has said.

From 2011 to 2015, there were 49 truck crashes, two of which were fatal, according to CDOT.

CDOT intends this summer to improve striping, lane configuration, additional signage and construction of a concrete barrier near the scenic overlook.

jromeo@durangoherald.com