Legal news for Colorado automobile accident attorneys. A RTD bus’ brakes apparently failed, leading to multiple vehicle crash.
Colorado automobile accident lawyers alert- An RTD bus crash injured three people.
Denver, CO—A multiple vehicle collision at the intersection of Florida Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard resulted after a Regional Transportation District (RTD) bus, ran a red traffic light. Three people were injured in the pile-up that occurred on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 around 2:08 p.m., as reported by the Denver Post.
According to the Lakewood Police Department, an eastbound RTD bus ran the red light at Florida Avenue, and struck a white Dodge Ram that was traveling southbound on Sheridan. The Dodge truck then hit a minivan that was in the northbound turn lane of Sheridan. The impact of the collision catapulted the RTD bus into the southbound lanes of Sheridan and hit a Toyota. Ambulances from Denver Health Medical Center and West Metro Fire responded to transport the injured to area hospitals for treatment. The drivers of the minivan and the Toyota, as well as a passenger in the Dodge were transported to area hospitals for treatment of their injuries. The reported injuries were described as non-life threatening. The RTD bus driver told investigators that the brakes on the bus failed, which caused him to run the light. Police officials are currently investigating the multiple vehicle crash.
Source
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
DUIs not much of a deterrent in Basalt
Roughly half of the drivers busted by the Basalt Police Department on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol in 2009 were repeat offenders, according to statistics tracked by the agency.
Officers made 74 DUI arrests last year. Sgt. Stu Curry said he was able to track the driving records of 46 of the arrestees. Of those 25, had been busted for a prior DUI in Colorado, he said.
Seventeen of those arrested had one prior conviction for DUI, Curry said. Four had been popped twice before. Two had been arrested three times before and two had been arrested four times before.
“I was really shocked,” Curry said of the results.
He wasn't able to track the driving histories of the 28 arrestees who were from out of state or Latino and natives of other countries. In some cases, arresting officers were unable to determine an identity for the Latino drivers. In other cases, they couldn't verify that the Latino drivers had a valid Colorado driver's license, he said.
Of the 25 repeat offenders, 15 had been previously arrested in the upper Roaring Fork Valley, by the Aspen, Snowmass Village or Basalt police departments or the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office, Curry's research showed.
The DUI arrests that stood out in 2009 tended to be cases with repeat offenders, he said. In one case this winter, an officer had stopped a vehicle on Highway 82 for a traffic violation when a citizen pulled up behind her and reported he had nearly been driven off the road by another motorist that was weaving on the road. He provided a solid description of the vehicle. The officer chased it down and made a DUI arrest — at 8:30 a.m., according to Curry.
In another case, Curry stopped a driver at 6 p.m. Christmas Eve for the man's fourth DUI arrest. Last fall, another Basalt officer picked up a local woman for her fifth DUI.
Curry estimated that less than half of the DUI arrests made in Basalt are from officers initiating a stop. More arrests are the products of citizen reports, known as REDDI or Report Every Drunk Driver Immediately reports, and investigation of accidents.
Basalt higher than state average
Basalt's percentage of repeat offenders is higher than the state average. Denver Post reporter David Olinger investigated Department of Motor Vehicle records and found that 16 percent of nearly 32,000 drivers investigated for drunken driving in Colorado last year had one prior DUI arrest. Another 7 percent had two or more prior arrests.
Drunken drivers haven't caused accidents that have killed other drivers in recent years, but Jeff Reese and Susan Grove were almost victims of a repeat offender on May 8, 2008. The couple were returning to their Basalt home from a baseball game in Denver. They were less than 2 miles from home when they were struck on Two Rivers Road by a vehicle driven by Oscar Canas Portillo of El Jebel.
Reese and Grove both suffered brain injuries and multiple broken bones. The couple, who now live in Aspen, are still battling to recover from their injuries. Grove has returned to work part-time at Aspen Valley Hospital. Reese intends to return to work as an accountant when his speech improves. His speech is slurred because of the injury to his brain.
Blood tests showed that Canas Portillo was impaired by drugs and alcohol at the time of the accident, police said. He had at least three and possibly four prior convictions for driving under the influence before the accident, Curry said.
Canas Portillo pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular assault causing bodily injury and was sentenced in February to 12 years in prison.
Officers made 74 DUI arrests last year. Sgt. Stu Curry said he was able to track the driving records of 46 of the arrestees. Of those 25, had been busted for a prior DUI in Colorado, he said.
Seventeen of those arrested had one prior conviction for DUI, Curry said. Four had been popped twice before. Two had been arrested three times before and two had been arrested four times before.
“I was really shocked,” Curry said of the results.
He wasn't able to track the driving histories of the 28 arrestees who were from out of state or Latino and natives of other countries. In some cases, arresting officers were unable to determine an identity for the Latino drivers. In other cases, they couldn't verify that the Latino drivers had a valid Colorado driver's license, he said.
Of the 25 repeat offenders, 15 had been previously arrested in the upper Roaring Fork Valley, by the Aspen, Snowmass Village or Basalt police departments or the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office, Curry's research showed.
The DUI arrests that stood out in 2009 tended to be cases with repeat offenders, he said. In one case this winter, an officer had stopped a vehicle on Highway 82 for a traffic violation when a citizen pulled up behind her and reported he had nearly been driven off the road by another motorist that was weaving on the road. He provided a solid description of the vehicle. The officer chased it down and made a DUI arrest — at 8:30 a.m., according to Curry.
In another case, Curry stopped a driver at 6 p.m. Christmas Eve for the man's fourth DUI arrest. Last fall, another Basalt officer picked up a local woman for her fifth DUI.
Curry estimated that less than half of the DUI arrests made in Basalt are from officers initiating a stop. More arrests are the products of citizen reports, known as REDDI or Report Every Drunk Driver Immediately reports, and investigation of accidents.
Basalt higher than state average
Basalt's percentage of repeat offenders is higher than the state average. Denver Post reporter David Olinger investigated Department of Motor Vehicle records and found that 16 percent of nearly 32,000 drivers investigated for drunken driving in Colorado last year had one prior DUI arrest. Another 7 percent had two or more prior arrests.
Drunken drivers haven't caused accidents that have killed other drivers in recent years, but Jeff Reese and Susan Grove were almost victims of a repeat offender on May 8, 2008. The couple were returning to their Basalt home from a baseball game in Denver. They were less than 2 miles from home when they were struck on Two Rivers Road by a vehicle driven by Oscar Canas Portillo of El Jebel.
Reese and Grove both suffered brain injuries and multiple broken bones. The couple, who now live in Aspen, are still battling to recover from their injuries. Grove has returned to work part-time at Aspen Valley Hospital. Reese intends to return to work as an accountant when his speech improves. His speech is slurred because of the injury to his brain.
Blood tests showed that Canas Portillo was impaired by drugs and alcohol at the time of the accident, police said. He had at least three and possibly four prior convictions for driving under the influence before the accident, Curry said.
Canas Portillo pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular assault causing bodily injury and was sentenced in February to 12 years in prison.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Two electrical workers involved in fatal construction accident
Legal news for Colorado construction accident attorneys. A bucket collapsed, resulting in one fatality and one serious injury.
Colorado construction accident lawyer alerts- OSHA investigating a bucket truck accident that left an electrical worker dead.
Denver, CO—An electrical worker was killed and another was seriously injured when they were thrown from their bucket, after their bucket truck failed. The fatal workplace accident occurred on Friday morning, January 15, 2010 around 10:19 a.m., at the Broomfield Plaza shopping center at the northeast corner of 120th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard, as reported by the Broomfield Enterprise.
One of the workers was killed when he was thrown from the bucket and hit a truck, which caused fatal injuries. The Lakewood resident was pronounced dead at the scene. The other worker was taken to St. Anthony Central Hospital in Denver for treatment of his serious and traumatic injuries. The workers were reportedly putting up an electrical line, which was not live, when the bucket truck collapsed. It is not known if the accident was caused by mechanical failure or human error. The victim is apparently the second construction worker to plummet to his death in Broomfield over the past month, and the third worker killed since October. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Source
Colorado construction accident lawyer alerts- OSHA investigating a bucket truck accident that left an electrical worker dead.
Denver, CO—An electrical worker was killed and another was seriously injured when they were thrown from their bucket, after their bucket truck failed. The fatal workplace accident occurred on Friday morning, January 15, 2010 around 10:19 a.m., at the Broomfield Plaza shopping center at the northeast corner of 120th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard, as reported by the Broomfield Enterprise.
One of the workers was killed when he was thrown from the bucket and hit a truck, which caused fatal injuries. The Lakewood resident was pronounced dead at the scene. The other worker was taken to St. Anthony Central Hospital in Denver for treatment of his serious and traumatic injuries. The workers were reportedly putting up an electrical line, which was not live, when the bucket truck collapsed. It is not known if the accident was caused by mechanical failure or human error. The victim is apparently the second construction worker to plummet to his death in Broomfield over the past month, and the third worker killed since October. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Source
Monday, February 15, 2010
Special needs bus, Toyota Prius collide; 4 injured
Legal news for Colorado automobile accident attorneys. Four people were injured when a car ran a red light.
Colorado automobile accident lawyers alerts- A school bus and a Toyota Pruis crashed in Aurora, CO.
Aurora, CO—Four people who were riding on a special needs school bus to Timberline Elementary School were sent to the hospital after the bus and a car collided, after the car apparently ran a red light. The two-vehicle crash occurred around 11:18 a.m., in the intersection of South Tower Road and East Amherst Avenue, as reported by the Denver Post.
Aurora Fire Department officials reported the Cherry Creek School District special needs school bus and a Toyota Prius collided, after the car allegedly ran the red light at the intersection. Two students, a students’ aid, and the school bus driver were all injured in the Monday morning, January 25, 2010 collision. All four people were taken to an area hospital by responding emergency medical services (EMS) teams for treatment of their injuries, which included “bumps and bruises”. They were reportedly treated for their injuries and then released. The unidentified driver of the Prius and a passenger were uninjured in the wreck. Police officials issued the driver of the Prius a citation for running the red traffic light, which caused the crash. It is unknown if a further investigation into the wreck is ongoing.
Source
Colorado automobile accident lawyers alerts- A school bus and a Toyota Pruis crashed in Aurora, CO.
Aurora, CO—Four people who were riding on a special needs school bus to Timberline Elementary School were sent to the hospital after the bus and a car collided, after the car apparently ran a red light. The two-vehicle crash occurred around 11:18 a.m., in the intersection of South Tower Road and East Amherst Avenue, as reported by the Denver Post.
Aurora Fire Department officials reported the Cherry Creek School District special needs school bus and a Toyota Prius collided, after the car allegedly ran the red light at the intersection. Two students, a students’ aid, and the school bus driver were all injured in the Monday morning, January 25, 2010 collision. All four people were taken to an area hospital by responding emergency medical services (EMS) teams for treatment of their injuries, which included “bumps and bruises”. They were reportedly treated for their injuries and then released. The unidentified driver of the Prius and a passenger were uninjured in the wreck. Police officials issued the driver of the Prius a citation for running the red traffic light, which caused the crash. It is unknown if a further investigation into the wreck is ongoing.
Source
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Visitor injured in car accident
The accident took place on U.S. Highway 160 near the entrance to Mesa Verde National Park. James M. Minton Jr., 50, of Greenwood, Ark., was headed toward Durango when he drove off the road and then overcorrected into the oncoming westbound lane, Trooper Doug Wiersma, a public information officer with the Colorado State Patrol, said in a news release.
Minton's 2000 Ford pickup collided head-on with a 2006 Ford Explorer driven by 44-year-old Joey J. Sloan of Bixby, Okla. Wiersma said Minton was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the rear window of his truck upon impact. The Arkansas man suffered serious injuries, he said.
The Explorer rolled one time, causing what Wiersma said were moderate injuries to Sloan and his passenger, Misty J. Sloan, 36. The Sloans were both wearing seat belts.
Minton was taken by ambulance to Southwest Memorial Hospital in Cortez.
Charges are pending because the exact cause of the accident is still under investigation, but Wiersma said another driver had reported that Minton was driving erratically just before the accident.
Highway 160 was closed to traffic in both directions for about an hour and a half during the investigation and cleanup.
Source
Minton's 2000 Ford pickup collided head-on with a 2006 Ford Explorer driven by 44-year-old Joey J. Sloan of Bixby, Okla. Wiersma said Minton was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the rear window of his truck upon impact. The Arkansas man suffered serious injuries, he said.
The Explorer rolled one time, causing what Wiersma said were moderate injuries to Sloan and his passenger, Misty J. Sloan, 36. The Sloans were both wearing seat belts.
Minton was taken by ambulance to Southwest Memorial Hospital in Cortez.
Charges are pending because the exact cause of the accident is still under investigation, but Wiersma said another driver had reported that Minton was driving erratically just before the accident.
Highway 160 was closed to traffic in both directions for about an hour and a half during the investigation and cleanup.
Source
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Fatal wreck- Truck flips, hits building
A 48-year-old man died in a single-vehicle accident in downtown Newnan Thursday night after his truck flipped several times and crashed into the 75 Jackson office complex located in the curve of Jefferson Street near Oak Hill Cemetery.
Ivan Girard of Newnan was driving a 2002 Ford truck that belonged to the construction company he worked for out of Tyrone, according to Lt. Nat Brown of the Newnan Police Department traffic unit.
Around 11:30 p.m., a witness saw Girard driving on Jefferson Street headed into downtown Newnan. That witness said Girard passed him at a high rate of speed near Farmer Street. By the time the witness reached the area of Pizza Hut and Bank of Coweta, he reportedly saw smoke billowing.
According to Brown, Girard attempted to negotiate the left-hand curve and, instead, went straight. His truck flipped at least three times and hit a concrete barrier, a sidewalk and a building within the 75 Jackson complex.
Newnan Fire Department personnel arrived on the scene and worked for approximately one hour to free Girard. Coweta County Deputy Coroner Bart Henson pronounced him dead on the scene, according to Brown.
Authorities estimate from the length of the skid marks that Girard must have been traveling in excess of about 70 miles per hour as he entered the Jefferson Street curve. Brown said Girard had a Newnan address but a Colorado license, so Brown is unsure whether or not Girard was familiar with the area.
There was no indication that Girard had been drinking, said Brown. It didn't appear Girard was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash. Authorities have listed the cause of the accident as "too fast for conditions."
No one else was injured.
Source
Ivan Girard of Newnan was driving a 2002 Ford truck that belonged to the construction company he worked for out of Tyrone, according to Lt. Nat Brown of the Newnan Police Department traffic unit.
Around 11:30 p.m., a witness saw Girard driving on Jefferson Street headed into downtown Newnan. That witness said Girard passed him at a high rate of speed near Farmer Street. By the time the witness reached the area of Pizza Hut and Bank of Coweta, he reportedly saw smoke billowing.
According to Brown, Girard attempted to negotiate the left-hand curve and, instead, went straight. His truck flipped at least three times and hit a concrete barrier, a sidewalk and a building within the 75 Jackson complex.
Newnan Fire Department personnel arrived on the scene and worked for approximately one hour to free Girard. Coweta County Deputy Coroner Bart Henson pronounced him dead on the scene, according to Brown.
Authorities estimate from the length of the skid marks that Girard must have been traveling in excess of about 70 miles per hour as he entered the Jefferson Street curve. Brown said Girard had a Newnan address but a Colorado license, so Brown is unsure whether or not Girard was familiar with the area.
There was no indication that Girard had been drinking, said Brown. It didn't appear Girard was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash. Authorities have listed the cause of the accident as "too fast for conditions."
No one else was injured.
Source
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Springs Girl Hit By Truck Is Home From Hospital
COLORADO SPRINGS - A happy homecoming for a little girl hit by a truck nearly three weeks ago. Shyenne Daly was crossing Platte Avenue when she was hit. She woke up in Memorial Hospital's Intensive Care Unit with no memory of the accident. She spent 17 days in the hospital. "I only felt like I'd been there 5 days but that's cuz I was in a coma and everything" she says.
The accident happened July 20th in the 2100 block of Platte. Shyenne had just gotten back from a Florida vacation and was visiting friends when she darted across the street to see a boy. She suffered a compound fracture of her left leg, broken bones in her pelvis and a head injury. "All the prayers and the best wishes, I know that's what got me through it and I'm sure that's helped Shyenne get through it as well, you couldn't really ask for anything more, it could've been a lot worse" said Chuck Daly, Shyenne's dad.
Shyenne will spend three months in a wheelchair. The family will find out next week whether she can return to school or will need a tutor.
The driver who hit Shyenne was not at fault and no charges were filed.
Source
The accident happened July 20th in the 2100 block of Platte. Shyenne had just gotten back from a Florida vacation and was visiting friends when she darted across the street to see a boy. She suffered a compound fracture of her left leg, broken bones in her pelvis and a head injury. "All the prayers and the best wishes, I know that's what got me through it and I'm sure that's helped Shyenne get through it as well, you couldn't really ask for anything more, it could've been a lot worse" said Chuck Daly, Shyenne's dad.
Shyenne will spend three months in a wheelchair. The family will find out next week whether she can return to school or will need a tutor.
The driver who hit Shyenne was not at fault and no charges were filed.
Source
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