A fatal crash on July 2, 2025, closed I-70 in eastern Colorado near Limon. A Subaru Forester rear-ended a semi truck trailer on eastbound I-70, killing three people, including two children. The crash seriously injured the Subaru driver, who survived.
Reports indicate that the semi-truck was traveling at a slow rate of speed in the right lane with its hazard lights on when the Subaru crashed into the rear of the trailer, tearing off the passenger side of the vehicle. The force of the collision caused the Subaru to spin and roll, ejecting one of the passengers.
The semi truck driver escaped injury in the crash, and investigators have not determined why he was traveling at a slow rate of speed at the time of the crash.
Rear-end crashes are some of the most common semi truck crashes on Colorado’s highways. Crashes where a semi truck rear-ends a passenger vehicle or where a passenger vehicle rear-ends a semi truck are also some of the most potentially dangerous.
Have you been injured in a rear-end semi truck accident? : Call The Law Offices of Peter M. Anderson, Colorado Truck Accident Lawyer
Rear-End Semi-Truck Crashes Are Some Of The Most Dangerous
A National Transportation Safety Board study found that rear-end crashes accounted for almost half of all crashes involving two vehicles and were responsible for over 1,700 deaths a year. Rear-end crashes involving commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) can be deadlier because semi trucks and CMVs are bigger and heavier. A fully loaded CMV can weigh up to 80,000 pounds. That is between 20 and 30 times heavier than most passenger cars.
A fully loaded semi truck traveling 55 mph can take 216 feet to come to a stop. Add in the time it takes a driver to perceive a hazard and react, and it will take over 500 feet for a semi truck to come to a stop – a distance longer than a football field.
Source: FMCSA
A 2014 study by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) determined that a driver following too closely behind traffic could result in a 22.6% increase in truck crashes. That means truckers who follow too closely are over 22 times more likely to cause rear-end crashes than big rigs that maintain a safe distance.
FMCSA Aims To Make Rear-End Crashes Safer For Drivers
Given the frequency of rear-end crashes involving semi trucks and the potential for serious or catastrophic injuries, the FMCSA has taken steps to try to protect the general public as much as possible in these scenarios.
The semi truck involved in the fatal crash near Limon was reportedly traveling slowly in the right lane with its hazard lights on. Colorado requires hazard lights in certain circumstances. Specifically, Colorado Revised Statutes 42-4-215(7) mandates the use of hazard lights when a vehicle is not moving or traveling 25 miles per hour or less. Outside of those circumstances, Colorado prohibits vehicles, including semi trucks and CMVs, from using hazard lights while in motion.
Federal regulations require semi trucks and their trailers to have reflective markings and mandate that drivers use hazard lights and hazard warning devices when they park or stop for emergencies. This includes the use of reflective conspicuity tape and specific points on the side and rear of the trailer.
To reduce deaths and serious injuries from rear-end crashes, the FMCSA requires most trailers to have underride guards to prevent passenger cars from going under the trailer in rear-end crashes. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 223 mandates that underride guards meet specific strength, energy absorption, and height standards.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the FMCSA are also evaluating new rules requiring automatic emergency braking systems. The NHTSA finalized a rule in 2024 requiring all passenger cars and light trucks manufactured after 2029 to have automatic emergency braking systems, but officials placed it on hold for further review in 2025.
Requiring these technologies in semi trucks is still being evaluated. But preliminary FMCSA data shows that CMVs equipped with automatic emergency braking (AEB) and forward collision warning (FCW) systems reduce rear-end crash involvement by 40%.
HAVE YOU BEEN INJURED IN A REAR-END TRUCK ACCIDENT? Call the Law Offices of Peter M. Anderson, Colorado Truck Accident Lawyer at 303-444-1505
Experienced Truck Crash Attorneys Will Know That You Are Not Always At Fault When You Rear-End a Semi-Truck
In any case involving CMVs or semi trucks, you need an attorney with the experience and skills to handle these specialized cases. That is never more true than when dealing with accidents involving rear-end or underride crashes.
If your car rear-ends a semi truck or trailer and you suffer injuries, many defense attorneys, insurance companies and even car crash attorneys unfamiliar with trucking will presume that you were at fault. Experienced truck crash lawyers know that that is not the case in many rear-end truck crashes.
Numerous factors that can influence who is ultimately at fault in a rear-end collision with a semi truck include:
- What were the road and weather conditions? Was the truck driver driving too fast for road conditions, forcing a sudden move into your path? Or was he driving too slowly, turning the CMV into a hazard itself?
- Was the truck driver distracted? Distracted drivers are always dangerous, no more so than when they are behind an 80,000-pound CMV. Distraction can cause a semi to drift into your path or make sudden and unnecessary lane changes or stops.
- Were the hazard lights or warning devices on or in place? If the semi truck had its hazard lights on but was still driving, what was the emergency, and was it going below 25 mph or should it have been going the speed limit as required by Colorado law?
- Was the semi truck or trailer visible? Federal regulations set strict standards for conspicuity when it comes to the side and back of trailers and CMVs. If the truck or trailer was not in compliance with these regulations, even attentive drivers may not see them until it is too late.
A good truck crash attorney will know to evaluate each of these factors and more to determine whether or not the truck driver bears fault for a rear-end crash.
When you are involved in a rear-end truck crash, you must find an experienced truck crash lawyer quickly. Evidence in truck crashes, including crucial evidence at the scene and electronic data on the semi truck itself, can disappear in the days and weeks following a crash.
Scene inspections are imperative in rear-end crashes, and the best truck crash attorneys regularly work with experts in crash and scene reconstruction. Detailed measurements of the scene, vehicle movement, and drone photography all work together to recreate the circumstances of the crash. Reconstruction requires accurate data, so getting a team to document the scene before conditions change is a must. Insurance companies and defense attorneys will certainly do the same, so you need someone on your side just as fast.
Experienced truck crash lawyers also know that the semi truck itself will provide a wealth of information not only on the truck, but also on the trucker. Electronic logging devices, or “ELDs,” are required in every semi truck and track the hours that truckers have driven. A fatigued driver is more likely to make a mistake that can cause sudden lane changes or stops, leading to a rear-end crash.
Most modern semi trucks have one or more electronic control modules or black boxes that record hard brake events, sudden accelerations, speed, and throttle. Preserving and properly analyzing this data requires skill and expertise that a general car crash lawyer may not possess.
If you are a victim of a rear-end truck crash, you need lawyers with the experience and education to win tough commercial truck accident cases.Attorneys at the Law Offices of Peter M. Anderson have the experience and education necessary to handle complex truck accident claims. Peter M. Anderson is board-certified in truck accident law by the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys, one of only two such qualified in the state of Colorado. He can navigate the complex federal regulations applicable to your injury claims. He has a history of successfully holding negligent truck drivers and trucking companies responsible in serious truck crash cases. Call the Law Offices of Peter M. Anderson, Colorado Truck Accident Lawyer, at 303-444-1505 today.