Wrong-Way Crash on I-25: What Victims Can Pursue

Just before 4 a.m. on Sunday, October 25, 2026, a 26-year-old woman drove a gray Chrysler van. She entered northbound Interstate 25 at the Speer Boulevard exit. She then drove the wrong way, heading south in the northbound lanes. She struck another vehicle head-on near 20th Street in downtown Denver.

The woman driving the van was killed at the scene. A passenger in her van and three people in the other car were taken to the hospital. Three had serious injuries. One had minor injuries. (CBS Colorado, October 26, 2026)

Colorado State Patrol confirmed that troopers pursued the same driver earlier that morning in Mead. Mead is about 32 miles north. She nearly hit a CSP trooper while driving on the wrong side of the highway. Troopers pursued with lights and sirens but a supervisor ordered the chase terminated out of concern for public safety.

CSP alerted nearby agencies. The agency is now reviewing how it handled the pursuit and the decision to end it. Investigators are also checking if the driver stayed on the wrong side. They are reviewing the entire 32-mile stretch from Mead to Denver.

This crash involves at least two legal questions. One is the liability of the wrong-way driver’s estate for the crash. Another is the potential liability of CSP for the terminated pursuit before it. Both deserve careful examination on behalf of the three seriously injured occupants of the other car.

Wrong-Way Driving and Civil Liability

Operating a vehicle the wrong way on a limited-access highway violates C.R.S. Section 42-4-1007.

This law requires drivers to travel on the right side of the roadway. A driver who enters a highway from an exit ramp is not making a normal mistake.

They are driving the wrong way.

They continue for 32 miles or more. They are creating a sustained, extreme hazard for every other driver on the road.

The three occupants of the other car were hospitalized. They were traveling lawfully in the northbound lanes of I-25 early Sunday morning. Their fault in this crash is zero. Their claims against the van driver’s estate are the clearest component of the legal picture.

Under C.R.S. Section 13-21-111, Colorado’s comparative negligence framework, fault is apportioned among the parties based on their conduct. The three northbound occupants bear none. The van passenger, who was not driving, also bears none.

Their recoverable damages include medical costs, lost income, pain and suffering, and long-term physical effects. These damages stem from what happened on I-25 before dawn on Sunday.

The Terminated Pursuit: A Second Avenue of Liability

This crash differs from most wrong-way crashes for one key reason. CSP had been chasing this driver and chose to end it. That decision, and whether it followed CSP policy and Colorado law, has direct legal consequences. It affects the injured occupants of the other car.

CSP has already confirmed it is reviewing the pursuit and the decision to end it. That review is not merely administrative. It is the same review that will be central to any civil claim against the state. The claim would allege that CSP’s handling of the pursuit helped cause the crash 32 miles later.

Colorado’s Governmental Immunity Act, codified at C.R.S. Section 24-10-106, generally protects government entities from lawsuits. But that immunity is not absolute. The Act includes specific waivers, including for a public employee driving a motor vehicle while working. Whether the waiver applies depends on the facts.

It also depends on how troopers ran the pursuit and what decisions they made.

The main civil issue is whether CSP ended the chase and alerted other agencies without catching the driver. This may have left a predictable danger on Colorado highways without enough response. If CSP knew or should have known that ending the pursuit without apprehending the driver created a substantial and continuing risk to other motorists, that knowledge bears on liability.

These are not easy cases against government entities. But they are not automatically foreclosed either.

The facts matter. The facts here include a driver already on the wrong side of the highway. The pursuit began after that. The pursuit was terminated, not resolved.

A crash 32 miles south killed the driver. It also seriously injured four others.

If a civil claim against CSP is viable, a formal notice of claim must be filed within 182 days of the crash under C.R.S. Section 24-10-109. That window opens today — Sunday, October 25, 2026 — and closes in late April 2027. It is a hard deadline that cannot be extended. If the occupants of the other car believe the pursuit decision contributed to this crash, that notice needs to go out well before April.

The Van Passenger’s Independent Rights

The passenger in the van was not driving. She did not cause the vehicle to enter the highway going the wrong direction. Whatever circumstances led to Sunday morning’s events, a passenger in a vehicle is in a legally distinct position from the driver.

Her claim against the van driver’s estate is independent of the driver’s other liabilities. If she had serious injuries in the crash, she may seek compensation. Reports suggest she was hospitalized. Her right to pursue compensation does not depend on any criminal investigation. It also does not depend on CSP’s review of its pursuit decisions. Her fault in this crash is zero.

What CSP’s Own Review May Produce

CSP’s internal review of the pursuit and the termination decision is significant for several reasons. It may identify policy violations, command failures, or communications gaps that bear on the civil liability question. It will produce documentation that becomes relevant in any civil claim against the state.

That review is an internal government process. Its findings may or may not be made public on a timeline that is useful to the injured parties. Civil attorneys for the crash victims can request CSP pursuit policies through formal legal processes.

They can also request the chase-night communications and records of the termination decision. Securing that information early — before it is subject to routine purging or institutional delay — is one of the first steps in evaluating a claim against the state.

Wrongful Death Rights for the Van Driver’s Family

The van driver died in the crash she caused. The legal situation for her family is complicated. She bore most of the fault for the collision.

This greatly limits, and likely ends, any wrongful death claim. Her family might bring it against the other car’s occupants. Whether there is a claim against CSP from the pursuit decision is a harder legal question.

It would require reviewing CSP’s duty of care to the pursued driver.

It would also require deciding whether any conduct during the pursuit contributed to her death.

These are not questions with obvious answers. Colorado’s wrongful death law, C.R.S. Section 13-21-202, gives rights when someone dies.

The death must result from another person’s wrongful act or neglect. Whether CSP’s choice to stop the pursuit was wrongful toward the driver depends on the facts.

It also depends on legal analysis beyond what a police press release shows.

Evidence That Must Be Preserved Now

The key evidence in this case, for the civil claims against the van driver’s estate and any possible claim against CSP, includes:

•       CSP’s pursuit records: the trooper’s initial contact in Mead, the pursuit log, all radio communications, and the supervisor’s decision and reasoning for terminating the chase

•       CSP’s pursuit policy as it existed on October 25, 2026, and whether the termination decision complied with it

•       Dashcam footage from the pursuing CSP trooper and any other vehicles involved in the pursuit between Mead and Denver

•       Event data recorder information from the Chrysler van, capturing speed and direction throughout the pre-crash period

•       CDOT traffic camera footage from I-25 showing the van’s wrong-way travel in Denver prior to the crash

•       Medical records for all four hospitalized individuals, establishing the nature and extent of their injuries

•       The van’s registration and insurance information, identifying the estate and coverage available to the injured victims

CSP will preserve some of this for its own review. The injured parties and their attorneys must act on their own to get what they need. They must also ensure the 182-day notice clock does not expire. This gives time to review government liability properly.

A Note on This Developing Story

CSP has confirmed the basic facts and the pursuit history. The investigation into the crash and CSP’s review of the pursuit decision are both ongoing. No charges have been announced. This blog does not speculate about criminal liability or the ultimate outcome of CSP’s review.

The confirmed facts show that four people are in the hospital this morning.

A wrong-way driver hit their car on I-25.

CSP had contact with that driver 32 miles north.

They decided to end their pursuit.

The families of those four people deserve a clear review of every legal option available to them.

If You Were Injured in This Crash, or if You Lost Someone

Bowman Law handles serious car accident cases and wrongful death claims in Denver and across Colorado. This includes cases involving government agencies and police chase decisions. The 182-day government notice deadline is already running. If you believe CSP’s conduct contributed to this crash, that window matters.

If you or a family member was in the other car on I-25 Sunday morning, we can talk.

The conversation is confidential. There is no charge and no obligation.

Call us at 720-863-6904 or visit coloradopersonalinjuryhelp.com whenever you are ready.