Car Accidents in Black Hawk, Colorado

The City of Black Hawk is “one of the top casino gaming destinations in Colorado,” home to “countless restaurants” and “over a dozen casinos.” This makes it a great place to spend a weekend or an evening out with friends, but the constant crowds of people who might not be familiar with the area, and the city’s festive atmosphere, significantly increase the risk of car accidents in Black Hawk, Colorado.

If you or a loved one need help starting a legal action after a traffic crash, call Cook, Bradford & Levy, LLC, at (303) 543-1000. Our Black Hawk car accident lawyers can travel to you and will charge no attorneys’ fees until you win. We also offer free case evaluations and can travel to you, meet over video conference, or have a simple and easy phone call.

There are many factors contributing to the number of traffic accidents in this part of the state:

• Black Hawk, Colorado, offers entertainment “both day and night,” so visitors are traveling to and from the area at all hours. Nighttime travel is especially dangerous due to decreased visibility. In one nighttime crash in 2022, an SUV passenger died in a collision with a casino bus. Investigators cited treacherous roads as a possible contributing factor.
• Bad weather—including snow, ice, fog, rain, and even dust storms—can make roads hazardous and reduce visibility. Colorado winters can be especially brutal: a storm in March 2024 dumped several feet of snow on Gilpin County and made travel dangerous.
• Given that Black Hawk is in Gilpen County, it is a rural area that does not get a lot of attention when it comes to plowing roads. When bad weather happens, drivers are often on their own and need to be prepared – which does not always happen.
• Black Hawk’s casinos and other entertainment venues sell alcohol. Trying to navigate an unfamiliar area where drivers may have spent time drinking can be extremely dangerous. Driving drunk is illegal in Colorado and a well-known risk factor for traffic collisions, so finding out you were hit by a drunk driver may increase your case’s value.
• Because many people drink alcohol at the Black Hawk and Central City casinos, people often opt to take large buses up from Denver rather than drive. The buses themselves can be hazards and also are subject to bad road conditions when inclement weather occurs.
• Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) data from 2021-2024 indicates a sizable percentage of Black Hawk crashes occur on Saturday evenings. This makes sense, given that Black Hawk is a popular leisure destination, but it also makes weekend travel in the area hazardous for everyone.

Car accidents in Black Hawk, CO, can be devastating. A 2024 head-on collision, for example, sent both drivers to the hospital with critical injuries. Even if you do not believe you were very badly injured, it is vital to get medical care right away, as hidden internal injuries could pose a serious threat to your health.

There are no trauma centers in Gilpin County, but according to the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (DPHE), there are several in the Denver area, including Denver Health Medical Center and Swedish Hospital, to which people involved in serious accidents may be transported. Never take chances with your health after an auto accident.

According to CDOT, of the 130 motor vehicle accidents in Gilpin County in 2023, 28 crashes happened in Black Hawk. Put another way, over 20 percent of all Gilpin County collisions occurred in this one city.

Even the most cautious drivers can become accident victims when someone else chooses to drive negligently, such as after drinking at one of Black Hawk’s casinos. A Black Hawk car accident lawyer at Cook, Bradford & Levy, LLC, can handle your case and help you navigate the legal process, whichever direction it goes.

Per the Colorado General Assembly, drivers in the state are required to carry insurance to cover any bodily injuries and property damage they cause in an accident. The required minimums are:

• $15,000 per accident for property damage
• $25,000 per person for bodily injuries
• $50,000 per accident for bodily injuries

Our car accident lawyers in Black Hawk can collect evidence to support your insurance claim, file the correct paperwork with the liable party’s insurer, and make sure you demand enough money to cover all your accident-related bills.

If the driver who hit you cannot be found or does not have enough auto insurance to pay for your losses, you could recover compensation through your own uninsured / underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage. Under CO. Rev. Stat. § 10-4-609, UM/UIM coverage is not mandatory, but insurers must make it available to you.

UM/UIM coverage is a crucial lifeline for many accident victims. Our Colorado law firm encourages all drivers to purchase this insurance. If you have this policy, your auto accident lawyer can use it to pursue the money your family needs. If you are unsure whether you have UM/UIM coverage, our experienced Black Hawk accident attorneys will review your insurance policy for free to see if you have it.

Most car accident claims settle out of court. It is relatively rare that the insurance company will want to take a chance on going through a long, expensive trial rather than negotiate a pretrial settlement. However, when this does happen, our legal team can appear on your behalf at Gilpin Combined Court in Black Hawk, or at whichever court holds jurisdiction over your case, and present your case to a jury.

For more information about how our car accident attorneys can handle your case, call (303) 543-1000 for a free consultation. Cook, Bradford & Levy, LLC, is fully committed to protecting people like you: we have never represented insurance companies and never will.

This collision was not your fault, so you should not have to pay for it. The at-fault party could owe you damages like:

• Pain and suffering
• Reduced quality of life
• Loss of consortium
• Loss of independence
• Permanent or temporary disability
• Scarring and disfigurement
• Past and projected medical costs
• Loss of wages, benefits, and earning capacity
• Loss of employment or job opportunities
• Property damage
• Out-of-pocket expenses

In cases with multiple liable parties, our car accident lawyers can pursue damages like these from everyone who contributed to your injuries. Our attorneys are not afraid to take on tough cases in pursuit of justice.

The legal team at Cook, Bradford & Levy, LLC, is here whenever you are ready to share your story and begin your claim, but remember that you have a limited time to act: CO. Rev. Stat. § 13-80-101 gives you just three years from the accident date to file a lawsuit. Evidence may start to disappear or lose value before that, so it is best to start as soon as possible.

Often, but not always, a negligent driver is to blame for a motor vehicle accident. In a well-trafficked area where many people are thinking about how to find their casino, hotel, or restaurant or the route home, you are especially likely to encounter drivers who:

• Are busy staring at directions on their cell phone or GPS
• Fail to signal before turning or change directions suddenly
• Do not notice traffic signs or signals until it is too late
• Cut off other drivers
• Follow others too closely
• Exceed the speed limits set by laws like Black Hawk Municipal Code Chapter 8-2(26)

That said, drivers are not the only negligent parties that cause car crashes. Our legal team is prepared to confront other parties as necessary to represent our Black Hawk car accident clients, such as:

• The Gilpin County Public Works Department. They are responsible for clearing snow and ice from the roads and providing general maintenance. Failure to fulfill these duties could create hazardous conditions that lead to an auto accident.
• An establishment that is licensed to sell alcohol. These establishments must follow the law, including Chapter 6 of the Black Hawk Municipal Code and Colorado’s Dram Shop Law, when selling alcohol to consumers. If they do not obey these regulations, and if a driver they sold alcohol to hits your car, we could hold the establishment partly responsible.

You could even sue a casino by proving that their negligence contributed to the wreck. For example, if a bus owned or operated by the casino ran a red light, the casino could be responsible for your wreck. Black Hawk casinos include:

• Ameristar Casino
• Bally’s Black Hawk
• Gilpin Casino
• Horseshoe Black Hawk
• Lady Luck Casino
• Lodge Casino
• Monarch Casino Resort Spa
• Saratoga Casino
• Sasquatch Casino
• Wild Card Casino
• Z Casino

Large establishments like these have legal teams on their side and are used to fending off lawsuits. At Cook, Bradford, & Levy, LLC, our attorneys’ goal is to level the playing field for the “little guy,” ensuring that accident victims like you have a fair shot at recovering financial compensation.

If you were injured in a car accident in Black Hawk, Colorado, call Cook, Bradford & Levy, LLC, at (303) 543-1000 today. Our personal injury attorneys work directly with our clients to craft the right legal strategy and fight for the money your family is depending on to make a fresh start. The initial consultation is free, so you risk nothing by speaking to our law firm.