Colorado takes roadway safety seriously, including efforts to ensure that commercial truck drivers are adequately trained before taking large, unwieldy trucks on the road. A truck can outweigh a standard passenger car by as much as 76,000 pounds, posing a serious safety hazard to vulnerable motorists. According to the National Safety Council, there were 5,837 fatal truck accidents in a single recent year. Colorado addresses the problem with training requirements for commercial license holders. Training for Commercial Truck Drivers In…

Losing a loved one in a sudden preventable death causes grief and anguish, with life-long repercussions for family members. These impacts are often financial as well as emotional, especially if the loved one was a family provider or the family member who cared for the home and children. The consequences of a sudden preventable death become the family’s “damages” in a wrongful death claim in Colorado. When a family member’s death occurred due to another party’s negligence, recklessness, or wrongdoing,…

There are nearly 110,000 motor vehicle crashes per year in Colorado, according to records from the state’s Department of Transportation, and about 2,000 of those crashes each year involve motorcycles. Motorcycle crashes are disproportionately dangerous nationwide; 6,218 motorcyclists were killed in U.S. crashes in 2022, per the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Many crashes occur because other drivers simply don’t see motorcycles on the road, and NHTSA data also shows that more than 1 in 3 motorcyclists are not wearing…

A day at a NASCAR event can be a wonderful experience. With the exhilarating races and the energy in the crowd, it can be a great place for the whole family.  However, on rare occasions, a NASCAR event can turn deadly when an unexpected event or accident occurs, resulting in the death of a driver or a spectator. This study analyzes every driver and spectator death that has ever happened at a NASCAR event.  Our team analyzed newspaper archives, local…

Although car accident injuries and deaths decreased by two percent between 2019 and 2022, they remain a high cause of accidental death, with 46,027 fatalities in 2022 and over five million reported injuries. There are many types of car accidents, including side-impact collisions, head-on collisions, rear-end collisions, and rollover accidents, but the overwhelming majority of these accidents result from the same cause. Traffic experts warn that one factor causes more car accident injuries and fatalities than any other, and what…