A five-vehicle chain-reaction crash shut down northbound I-25 near Larkspur on Saturday morning, backing up traffic on one of Colorado's busiest highway corridors and sending at least one person to the hospital. Colorado State Patrol troopers responded to the scene near milepost 173 in Douglas County around 10:48 a.m. after a Chevrolet Blazer allegedly rear-ended another vehicle, triggering a pileup that pulled in three additional cars.
The crash closed the roadway for about 75 minutes, according to FOX31 Denver, which first reported the incident. The 31-year-old Blazer driver was charged with careless driving causing injury, the station reported. Separately, CBS News reported that the closure stretched between Exit 173 at Spruce Mountain Road and Exit 174 at Tomah Road, with all lanes reopened by 11:56 a.m.
Under Colorado Revised Statutes § 42-4-1402, careless driving causing bodily injury is a Class 1 misdemeanor traffic offense, carrying a possible sentence of 10 days to one year in county jail, fines between $300 and $1,000, and four points against a driver's license, according to the Orr Law Firm. The crash remains under investigation, according to the same CBS account.
Statewide, rear-end collisions are the single most common type of crash in Colorado, accounting for 27,950 recorded incidents in 2024 alone, according to data cited by Anderson Hemmat.
A $419 Million Upgrade, Still Testing Its Limits
The 18-mile stretch of I-25 between Castle Rock and Monument, running straight through Larkspur, underwent a $419 million widening project that the Colorado Department of Transportation completed in November 2022. That project added express lanes, wider emergency shoulders, and five rebuilt bridges, all aimed at cutting down on severe accidents and congestion along the state's main north-south artery.
Larkspur is in southern Douglas County along I-25.
Crash Remains Under Investigation
The crash remains under investigation.
Senate Bill 25-281 includes provisions for penalties for careless driving causing serious bodily injury or death and driver's license suspensions of up to one year, according to Colorado Capitol Watch.
