A 29-year-old Thornton man was killed Wednesday morning when a white box truck crossed the median on southbound Highway 85 near La Salle and slammed head-on into his Toyota Matrix, before striking a Honda Accord as well. Two other drivers were hospitalized, and the highway was shut down for hours as investigators worked the scene.
The crash happened around 7:05 a.m. near milepost 262, just north of Crystal River Road, according to KDVR. Colorado State Patrol responded to find a box truck traveling northbound that had crossed into oncoming lanes, hitting the Toyota Matrix head-on before continuing on to strike the Honda Accord, the station reported. The Denver Gazette similarly reported that one person was killed and two others injured in the multi-vehicle wreck.
The Toyota driver, identified only as a 29-year-old man from Thornton, was pronounced dead at the scene, per KDVR's reporting. The Weld County Coroner will release his identity once his family has been notified, according to Denver7.
Two Drivers Hospitalized, One With Serious Injuries
The driver of the box truck, a 25-year-old man also from Thornton, was taken to the hospital with serious bodily injuries, the station's report states. The driver of the Honda Accord, a 36-year-old man from Greeley, was hospitalized with moderate injuries, per the same account. Preliminary information indicated that the box truck driver and the Toyota driver were not wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash, the outlet noted.
Colorado State Patrol told the station the vehicle involved was a FedEx semitruck, though that detail was attributed specifically to a statement CSP gave to the outlet. The cause of the crash remained under investigation Wednesday, with Denver7 reporting that state patrol was still working to determine what led the truck to cross the median.
Highway Closed for Over Five Hours
Southbound Highway 85 near Crystal River Road was shut down for approximately five hours and 15 minutes while investigators processed the scene, the station reported. The road reopened at approximately 12:18 p.m., according to Denver7's coverage of the closure.
Wednesday's crash was one of several deadly head-on collisions reported in Weld County in recent weeks. A September 12 crash left one person dead and another seriously injured, according to KDVR, and a separate head-on crash on September 13 in Northern Colorado's Weld County killed one person and seriously injured another, per CBS Colorado.
