A 19-year-old passenger has died after the pickup truck he was riding in slammed into a Colorado State Patrol vehicle and a semi-trailer on westbound Interstate 70 east of Byers, during a roadside operation where troopers were shielding tow crews clearing an earlier semi crash in the center median. The collision happened near milepost 321 in Arapahoe County.
According to Denver7, the crash unfolded while Colorado State Patrol troopers were investigating a separate, property-damage-only crash involving a semi in the center median. A trooper was partially blocking the left lane to protect tow trucks working the scene when an 18-year-old man driving a Ford F-150 lost control and struck the patrol vehicle, sideswiping its passenger side. The pickup then continued westbound into the median, hit a guardrail, and struck the rear driver's side of the semi-trailer being towed.
The 18-year-old driver was taken to an area hospital with serious injuries, per the same release cited by Denver7's report. His 19-year-old male passenger was initially hospitalized with life-threatening injuries and later died, according to the release. The involved trooper was also taken to a hospital for a precautionary medical evaluation, though no injuries were reported for the trooper at the scene. The Arapahoe County coroner will release the passenger's name once his family has been notified, the station's report states.
Investigators Probe a Pattern of Roadside Strikes
The Colorado State Patrol's Vehicular Crimes Unit is now investigating the crash, per the same account. It is the latest in a string of so-called struck-by incidents on Colorado highways: a March analysis of state patrol crash data published by Police Magazine found that all 10 struck-by incidents involving trooper cruisers in 2025 happened on multi-lane interstates, with five occurring on I-70 alone and eight inside active, closed, or partially closed lanes. Driver error and excessive speed during inclement weather were identified as the top causes.
Colorado's Move Over Law, codified at C.R.S. § 42-4-705, requires drivers on multi-lane highways to shift over at least one lane when approaching a stationary emergency vehicle with flashing lights, or to slow down by at least 20 mph below the posted speed limit if a lane change is not safe, according to the Colorado State Patrol. On roads posted at 40 mph, that reduction must bring drivers down to 25 mph or less; in zones posted 45 mph or higher, drivers must slow by at least 20 mph. A violation can carry a possible three-point license penalty.
Teen Driving Deaths Keep Climbing Statewide
The ages of the driver and passenger in the crash land inside a trend Colorado officials have been tracking closely. Data released in June by the Colorado Department of Transportation showed that traffic fatalities among youth aged 15 to 20 hit a record high of 86 in 2025, a 91 percent surge in young driver and passenger crash deaths since 2015. The agency also found that youth aged 15 to 20 accounted for 16 percent of the state's summer traffic deaths.
The Colorado State Patrol reported in July that troopers investigated 4,184 at-fault crashes caused by drivers aged 16 to 21 during 2025, citing distracted driving, excessive speeding, lane violations, and following too closely as the top causal factors, with July and November standing out as peak months for these crashes. Under the state's Graduated License Law, as reported by La Voz Colorado, teen drivers with a learner's permit during its first six months may not carry passengers under 21 unless accompanied by a licensed adult over 21; exceptions apply for siblings and medical emergencies.
A Familiar Stretch of Highway
This is not the first fatal crash involving a teenage driver on this stretch of eastern Arapahoe County. Hoodline reported in August that a teen driver was killed near Strasburg, just west of Byers, after losing control at high speed and crashing into a guardrail that pierced his vehicle. Colorado's Move Over Law itself was broadened in 2023 under HB23-1123, which the Colorado Department of Transportation says now requires motorists to move over or slow down for any disabled passenger vehicle displaying hazard lights on the roadside, not just emergency and service vehicles.
