Speeding Accidents

Each year in Colorado law enforcement agencies issue tens of thousands of tickets to drivers violating Colorado’s speed limits. For example, in 2017 the Colorado State Patrol alone issued 67,641 tickets for speeding infractions, and the number is much higher when local law enforcement is included. Far from being an annoyance, drivers who speed in Colorado pose a serious threat to the safety of other drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians on roads in Boulder County and beyond. The risk of speeding drivers hurting someone is amplified in residential neighborhoods where children are at play, in school zones, as well as areas that have a high concentration of walkers and pedestrians like downtown Boulder and the Pearl Street Mall. At Cook, Bradford & Levy, LLC, our Lafayette personal injury lawyers have represented hundreds of victims of crashes caused by speeding drivers including injured pedestrians, and bicyclists, and we invite you to contact us today at 303-543-1000 for a free consultation about how we might be able to help you with your case.

Between 2011 and 2014, data from the Colorado State Patrol shows that each year there have been between 634 and 708 fatal crashes that were caused by speeding or exceeding a safe or legal speed. Given that these numbers only reflect fatalities, an experienced Lafayette personal injury attorney understands that each year speeding drivers in Colorado also cause thousands of car accidents that result in serious injuries like broken bones, head injuries, herniated discs, and other more catastrophic injuries.

While common sense would support our conclusion, our experienced Lafayette car accident lawyers understand that the faster a car or truck travels, the more stress or strain is put on the accident prevention or safety devices within the vehicle. For example, more forces are involved when an airbag is deployed, seatbelts place more force on your body causing bruising or even fractures, headrests and seatbacks can be broken, and bumpers transmit more force into the body of the vehicle. According to a 2004 study, the World Health Organization estimates that with every .621 increase in m.p.h., the risk of injury to an occupant in a car accident increases 3% and the risk of fatality increases 4-5%. In other words, even though low speed impacts can cause injuries, the correlation between the severity of a driver’s or passenger’s injuries and the speed of the crash is undeniable. Moreover, our Lafayette personal injury lawyers know that the faster a vehicle is traveling means there is less time to stop before impacting an object or another vehicle, and it also reduces the amount of time a driver has to steer safely away and avoid hitting something.

This is why we often see serious or fatal accidents on highways like I-70 and I-25 in Colorado, including the Western Slope like Grand Junction and East of the Utah border, where the speed limits are higher, and where those exceeding the speed limits means vehicles may both be traveling 85 mph or faster. The forces are greater, and there is simply less time for drivers to react and take evasive action. But the good news is that if you have been in a high-speed accident in Colorado our Lafayette personal injury attorneys can help.

At Cook, Bradford & Levy, LLC, our experienced Lafayette car accident attorneys understand how to fight for your rights after a crash. We can help you build your case in a manner that optimizes your chances to recover full past, present, and future medical bills, lost wages or lost future earning capacity, pain and suffering and emotional distress, as well as for physical impairment to your body and the impact that impairment will continue to have on you throughout your lifetime.

When necessary, our knowledgeable Lafayette personal injury attorneys will work with your doctors to help explain to the insurance companies like State Farm, Farmers, GEICO, Travelers, and others, the full nature and extent of your injuries. Additionally, where liability is disputed (meaning that the insurance company blames you for causing some or all of your crash), we have the resources to retain local and national experts to help prove that the other driver was at fault.

If you or a loved one has been killed or seriously hurt in a high-speed car accident in Colorado or the surrounding states, we invite you to call our Lafayette personal injury lawyers today at 303-543-1000 for a free consultation.