One person is dead following a deadly crash in Colorado Springs on the night of May 2, according to local news sources. Colorado police are still determining the cause of the accident, but they believe speed may have been a factor. They have not ruled out the possibility that alcohol may also have played a role, as it does in many car accidents both here and around the nation.
According to the preliminary report, a southbound vehicle driven by an unknown person was traveling on South Academy Boulevard around 8:17 p.m. when the accident occurred. Apparently, this individual crashed into another car that was attempting to negotiate a left-hand turn onto the same road. The driver of the southbound vehicle was reported dead in the impact; however, the person remains unidentified pending notification of next-of-kin.
The conditions of the person or persons in the other vehicle are not known at this time, but it seems likely that they may have been injured as well. Police shut down the intersection throughout the night to facilitate their investigation and reopened lanes early the following day. So far, they have not released a report confirming the cause of the crash.
In some car accidents, it can be difficult to assign blame to one or more drivers if the cause of the crash remains unknown. Colorado police will work with local authorities to determine whether the deceased driver was drunk or behaving recklessly in a way that led materially to the accident. If this is determined to be the case, any and all injured parties in the struck vehicle are entitled under state law to file personal injury suits against the driver’s estate and/or other owners of the vehicle involved in the crash. Of course, no criminal charges will be filed posthumously.
Source: gazette.com, “Deadly crash involving 2 vehicles in southeast Colorado Springs“, May 2, 2018