Fatal car crashes in Pueblo, CO: deadliest roads, 2020-2024

From 2020 through 2024, federal crash records list 80 fatal crashes inside Pueblo, in which 88 people died. The roads with the most were I-25 with 19 fatal crashes, Pueblo Blvd (State Route 45) with 11 and US-50 (street name not recorded) with 9.

Filing deadline, fault rule, insurance and the court for a crash in Pueblo: Pueblo, CO injury guide.

Pueblo's entry in NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, the federal record of public-road crashes in which someone dies within 30 days, lists 22 crashes for 2023. The death toll was 23, one higher than the crash count, so one crash was responsible for two deaths. Every crash happened in Pueblo County on a road classed as urban. Twenty occurred under clear skies and 1 under clouds, and the report for the last one left the weather blank.

The most striking feature of Pueblo's year is how rarely a crash started with two moving vehicles hitting each other: only 3 times, 2 at an angle and 1 from behind. FARS uses the term first harmful event for whatever first caused injury or damage, and in Pueblo that event was a pedestrian in 8 crashes and, in 3, someone on a personal conveyance, a category covering users of wheelchairs, skateboards and similar devices. Curbs and fences came first in 2 crashes each, and a cable barrier, a parked vehicle, a guardrail face and a rollover in 1 apiece.

Non-motorists, a count that takes in anyone walking, riding a bicycle or otherwise outside a vehicle, were involved in 13 crashes, about 59 percent. Eleven of them began with a pedestrian or personal-conveyance user being hit; in the remaining 2, a non-motorist was involved even though something else was struck first. By junction type, 9 crashes were coded as non-junction, 7 as intersection-related, 3 as inside an intersection and 3 as elsewhere in an interchange area, which puts 10 in or close to an intersection.

Twelve crashes happened in darkness, with street lighting present at 10 of them and absent at 2; daylight accounts for 9 and dawn for 1. FARS's hour coding puts 8 crashes in the 9 p.m. to 4:59 a.m. window and 14 in the other sixteen hours, so 4 or more of the dark crashes happened in the evening or early morning. Monday, Thursday and Saturday had 5 crashes each, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 2 each, and Sunday 1. June and August led the calendar with 4 each and April had 3, while March had none.

Arterial roads dominate: 10 crashes were on other principal arterials and 7 on minor arterials, about 77 percent of the total between them. Interstates had 3 crashes, and an other freeway or expressway and a major collector had 1 each. The file codes no crash to a local street, so Pueblo's 2023 deaths occurred almost entirely on roads meant to move traffic through and across the city.

The summary names the 12 road entries seen most often, covering 17 crashes; the other 5 were on roads it does not list. SR-45 appears under three codings, South Pueblo Boulevard twice, with different spacing, for 2 crashes and 1, and West Pueblo Boulevard for 1, so the route accounts for 4 crashes if they are combined. SR-96 appears with West 4th Street and with Thatcher Boulevard, 1 crash each. Since heavily used roads see more crashes, the counts mark where deaths happened rather than ranking roads by danger:

• SR-45, three codings combined: 4 fatal crashes (3 South Pueblo Boulevard, 1 West Pueblo Boulevard).
• I-25: 3.
• US-50 Bypass and West Northern Avenue: 2 each.
• SR-96, two codings combined: 2 (1 West 4th Street, 1 Thatcher Boulevard).
• North Troy Avenue, Broadway Avenue, West Arroyo Avenue and St Clair Avenue: 1 each.

The summary cannot say why 13 of Pueblo's 22 fatal crashes involved non-motorists, because it lacks walking volumes, traffic counts, speeds and impairment data. Possible contributors include how many people walk, roll or ride along and across arterial roads, the spacing of safe crossings, vehicle speeds and visibility at night. Each is a hypothesis that individual crash reports and later years of data could test, not a conclusion drawn from these numbers.

Darkness may be part of the picture, since 12 crashes happened after dark. NHTSA's pedestrian safety guidance asks drivers to take extra care when visibility is poor, such as at night. This summary, however, does not cross-tabulate lighting with crash type, so it cannot show how many non-motorist crashes were among the dark ones. The 3 personal-conveyance crashes involved people on devices of that kind, and their claims raise the same questions about visibility and right of way that pedestrian claims do.

For an injured pedestrian, or a family that lost someone, Colorado's 50 percent bar becomes the central legal question. An insurer may argue that the person crossed outside a crosswalk, against a signal or in dark clothing; if a jury put the person's share at 50 percent or more, nothing would be recoverable, and below that line the award is reduced by the share. Evidence about lighting, the driver's speed and attention, and the exact crossing location can decide which side of the line a case lands on.

Suppose you were walking home along the edge of a Pueblo arterial one October evening when a driver drifted toward the curb and struck you from behind. You suffered a broken pelvis and a shoulder injury, spent five days in the hospital and needed months of rehabilitation. Medical charges totaled $85,000, and the time off work cost $16,000 in wages.

The driver's insurer acknowledged that its driver had been looking at a navigation screen but argued that you were 40 percent at fault for walking with your back to traffic in dark clothing. Suppose the full value of your claim, pain and suffering included, is $200,000. Under Colorado's rule, a 40 percent share would bring the recovery down to $120,000. A 50 percent finding, by contrast, would wipe out the claim against the driver, so proof about the lighting, the driver's distraction and your exact path would carry real weight.

A driver carrying Colorado's minimum of 25/50/15 has just $25,000 available for one injured person. Underinsured motorist coverage on your policy or a household member's may extend to injuries you suffer while walking, subject to its terms, and medical payments coverage or health insurance may handle early bills. Because a motor vehicle caused the injury, the three-year period in C.R.S. § 13-80-101(1)(n) would generally govern a lawsuit, and if a public entity's road or lighting played a role, the 182-day notice would also apply. All facts and figures here are hypothetical, and an attorney must evaluate any real claim.

With most of Pueblo's 2023 crashes involving people outside vehicles and many happening after dark, the evidence that matters usually concerns where a person was, what a driver could see and how fast the vehicle was moving. The steps below fit pedestrians, cyclists, wheelchair users, drivers and passengers, and family members can take many of them on behalf of someone who is in the hospital.

• Ask the responding officers which agency will prepare the crash report and how to obtain a copy.
• Mark the exact point of impact and photograph its distance from the nearest crosswalk, signal and street light.
• Return at the same time of day or night to photograph the lighting and the sight lines a driver would have had.
• Keep the clothing, shoes and any wheelchair, scooter or bicycle involved, unrepaired, as evidence.
• Ask nearby homes, businesses and transit operators to preserve video before it is recorded over.
• Write down what the driver said at the scene, including any mention of a phone, a screen or glare.
• If a public entity's vehicle, signal or road may be involved, note the 182-day notice deadline in C.R.S. § 24-10-109.

Payment in Colorado follows fault: the liability policy of the driver who caused the crash is usually where an injured person looks first. Florida, Kansas and New Jersey work differently as no-fault states, where an injured person's own personal injury protection coverage generally pays first. Colorado drivers must carry at least 25/50/15, meaning a minimum policy pays at most $25,000 toward one person's injuries, $50,000 toward all injuries in a crash and $15,000 toward property; the policy actually in effect when the crash occurred sets the real ceiling.

Colorado's version of comparative negligence includes a 50 percent bar: someone found less than 50 percent responsible recovers damages reduced by that share, and someone at 50 percent or above recovers nothing. Utah, Kansas and Nebraska draw the line in the same place; Ohio and Nevada allow recovery up to a 50 percent share; California and Washington allow it at any share; and North Carolina and Maryland can bar recovery for even 1 percent of fault.

Deadlines depend on the claim. Colorado's standard deadline for injury suits is two years (C.R.S. § 13-80-102), but C.R.S. § 13-80-101(1)(n) allows three years when the injury came from operating or using a motor vehicle, which covers most crash claims. Claims against a public entity require notice within 182 days (C.R.S. § 24-10-109). A wrongful death claim follows separate rules on who can file and by when, so a family should pin down that deadline quickly. Colorado injury suits are generally filed in District Court.

Pueblo's 2023 record is defined by crashes involving pedestrians, cyclists and other non-motorists, by very few collisions between moving vehicles, and by darkness. Colorado's rules shape any claim that follows: the at-fault driver's insurer pays, a share of fault at or above 50 percent bars recovery, most crash claims have three years, and public entities must receive notice within 182 days. Most personal injury attorneys work on contingency, so ask how the fee percentage is set and who covers case expenses before agreeing to representation.

Ask Legal Matters is a lead-generation service, not a law firm, offering a free claim-review request service for people injured in crashes and for families of people killed in them. It does not provide legal advice. Requests may be shared with independent attorneys and legal services partners who handle inquiries in Colorado. Whether a claim exists depends on facts an attorney must evaluate. If you, or someone in your family, were hurt in a Pueblo crash, you can request a free claim review.

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• Car Accident Claims in the United States: The Complete Guide
• Pedestrian Accident Claims: Rights, Fault and Compensation
• Wrongful Death Claims: Who Can File, Deadlines and Damages
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