A 61-year-old Morrison man died, and a 28-year-old Leadville man suffered life-threatening injuries after an eastbound Chevrolet Silverado veered into the westbound lane of U.S. 50 near Gunnison, slamming head-on into a Jeep Wrangler towing a small camper trailer. The crash happened around 2:20 p.m. Sunday near milepost 155, a few miles west of Gunnison, close to the highway’s twin bridges over the Gunnison River.
The impact sent both vehicles spinning out, according to the Denver Gazette, which cited a Colorado State Patrol news release reporting one person killed and another seriously injured in the head-on collision. The Wrangler rolled at least once during the crash and caught fire afterward, the outlet reported. The Silverado driver, identified by troopers as the 61-year-old Morrison man, died while being airlifted to a hospital.
The Wrangler’s driver, a 28-year-old man from Leadville, was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, per the same account. State troopers withheld the name of the driver who died pending notification of next of kin. U.S. 50 functions as the primary east-west arterial across Colorado’s Western Slope, carrying a heavy mix of commercial freight trucks, local commuters, and seasonal tourists through Gunnison County, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.
What Investigators Are Still Trying to Determine
Colorado State Patrol has not said what caused the Silverado to cross the centerline into oncoming traffic, and that question remains open as investigators work case number VC260324. State law under Colorado Revised Statutes section 42-4-1007 requires drivers to stay within a single lane and to confirm a lane change can be made safely before moving, while section 42-4-1005 bars driving on the left side of the road to pass unless that lane is clearly visible and free of oncoming traffic, according to Colorado.Public.Law. The Colorado State Patrol has said aggressive driving behaviors, including lane violations and driving on the wrong side of the road, rank among the leading causes of fatal and injury crashes on the state’s highways…