Westbound Interstate 76 under the Dahlia Street bridge in Commerce City and the bridge itself will close this weekend for construction, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.
From 10 p.m. on Friday to 5 a.m. on Monday, westbound I-76 at exit 9 and Dahlia Street over the interstate will be closed for repair work, according to a CDOT news release.
This weekend, the following detours are in effect:
Westbound I-76 traffic will use the exit 9 off-ramp to West U.S. 6/South U.S. 85, continue south to 74th Avenue/Colorado 224, turn west and continue to the westbound I-76 on-ramp.
Northbound Dahlia Street traffic will detour east on 74th Avenue/Colorado 224, turn north on U.S. 6/U.S. 85 to join eastbound I-76, exit at 88th Avenue and go west.
Southbound Dahlia Street traffic will detour west on the I-76 Frontage Road, turn east on 74th Avenue/Colorado 224 and continue to Dahlia Street.
Once this weekend’s work is completed, there will be ongoing single-lane closures overnight on I-76, CDOT officials said. The lane will be closed from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. during the week, and from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. on the weekend. Northbound Dahlia Street over I-76 will continue to be closed until the project is completed.
CDOT officials expect construction to wrap up in mid-July.
A plane crashed into a Steamboat Springs mobile home park on Monday afternoon, starting a fire involving at least two homes, according to Steamboat Springs Fire Rescue.
A Cessna 421 crashed into the West Acres mobile home park, 2990 W. Acres Drive, at 4:23 p.m., engulfing two homes and several outbuildings, Steamboat Springs police said on Facebook.
All mobile home residents have been accounted for, but information about how many passengers were inside the Cessna was not immediately available.
The mobile home park is just south of the single-runway Steamboat Springs Airport, which is also known as Bob Adams Field.
Hans Von Ohain and Nora Bass (Photo via lawsuit filed by MLG Attorneys at Law)
Tesla’s advanced Autopilot driving system malfunctioned and caused one of the electric car maker’s Colorado employees to drive off the road and die in a fiery crash, a newly filed wrongful death lawsuit alleges.
The widow of Hans Von Ohain says her husband was driving back from golfing in Evergreen with a friend on May 16, 2022, when the Autopilot system “unexpectedly caused the 2021 Tesla Model 3 to sharply veer to the right, leading it off the pavement” on Upper Bear Creek Road.
The 33-year-old Von Ohain, who was intoxicated, fought to regain control of the vehicle, “but, to his surprise and horror,” the car drove off the road and into a tree, where it burst into flames, according to the 16-page complaint filed May 3 in Clear Creek County District Court.
The Colorado State Patrol said in its 403-page crash report that the car’s condition after the crash made it impossible to access data to determine whether the self-driving feature was engaged at the time.
But the passenger in the car, Erik Rossiter, who suffered injuries in the crash, told investigators that Von Ohain was using the autonomous drive feature on the trip home, according to the CSP’s final report.
“It was uncomfortable,” he told troopers. “The car would swerve off toward the side of the road periodically and bring itself back.”
The vehicle was traveling 41 mph at the time of the crash, just above the 40 mph speed limit, according to the CSP report.
Von Ohain also used the self-driving feature on the way to the golf course, Rossiter said — a trip he called “a bit nerve-wracking.”
An autopsy report showed the driver’s blood-alcohol level at three times the legal limit. His widow, Nora Bass, told the Washington Post in February that she had been unable to find an attorney to take the case due to his intoxication.
“Regardless of how drunk Hans was, (Tesla CEO Elon) Musk has claimed that this car can drive itself and is essentially better than a human,” Bass told the newspaper. “We were sold a false sense of security.”
Efforts by The Denver Post to reach Bass or her attorney were unsuccessful.
If Von Ohain was, in fact, using the Full Self-Driving feature, it would make his death the first known fatality involving Tesla’s most advanced driver-assistance technology, the Washington Post reported.
Bass and her attorneys allege Tesla knowingly released the self-driving system in vehicles when it was just a prototype and unready for consumers.
Tesla did not respond to messages from The Post seeking comment. Von Ohain worked for the Texas-based carmaker as a recruiter.
Federal regulators have logged more than 900 crashes in Teslas since they began requiring automakers to report accidents in 2021 involving driver-assistance systems, the Washington Post found. At least 40 resulted in serious or fatal injuries.
Tesla’s Autopilot system has been highly controversial and subject to intense scrutiny from authorities and consumers.
In December, the company issued a recall for nearly all of its 2 million U.S. cars aimed at improving driver attention.
Two years ago, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that the Tesla Autopilot’s features may not have sufficient guardrails to “prevent driver misuse.” The federal probe came after a series of Teslas using the system had run into parked emergency vehicles.
Reuters on Wednesday reported U.S. prosecutors are looking into whether Tesla committed securities or wire fraud by misleading consumers and investors about the technology’s capabilities.
Denver police are investigating after an overnight crash involving a light rail train and a pedestrian turned deadly in the city’s Park Hill neighborhood.
An unidentified man was crossing against warning signals at Quebec Street and Smith Road when the train collided with him, Denver police spokesperson Katherine McCandless said.
Officers responded to reports of the incident about 11:45 p.m. Friday, and the man was pronounced dead at the scene, McCandless said.
Multiple Regional Transportation District light rail lines shut down temporarily Wednesday after a train hit a car running a red light in downtown Denver’s Central Business District.
The crash happened around 1 p.m. at the intersection of Stout and 15th streets in Denver, RTD spokesperson Tina Jaquez said. No light rail customers or operators were injured in the crash.
RTD’s D and H lines experienced delays that resolved around 2:30 p.m., once the crash was cleared from the tracks, Jaquez said.
The driver of the car transported to the hospital with minor injuries, said Siena Riley, a spokesperson for the Denver Police Department. The driver ran a red light and was hit by the train.
One person was killed Sunday morning in a crash involving a motorcycle in northeast Denver.
The crash involved a vehicle and a motorcycle and happened in the 5100 block of North Quebec Street, the Denver Police Department reported on X just before 12:30 p.m.
#TRAFFIC: #DPD is investigating a traffic crash resulting in a fatality. The crash is involving a motorcyclist and a motorist in the 5100 block N. Quebec St. Expect delays in the area. #Denver. pic.twitter.com/nS4RsBggPM
The driver involved in last week’s fatal crash that killed a Highlands Ranch teenager on his way to middle school has been arrested, the sheriff’s office announced Wednesday.
The driver — 52-year-old Ruben Amaro-Morones — was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of careless driving causing death, careless driving causing serious bodily injury and failing to obey a traffic signal, according to a Wednesday news release from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
Amaro-Morones was traveling eastbound on Highlands Ranch Parkway in the far right lane as he approached the intersection and had a red light, the release stated.
When Amaro-Morones ran the light in his van, he collided with Mackiewicz and threw the boy from his electric skateboard before coming to a stop on the opposite side of the intersection, according to Wednesday’s release.
According to the release, Amaro-Morones was arrested Wednesday and transported to the Douglas County Detention Facility.
Investigators do not believe that speeding was a factor in the crash, the sheriff’s office stated in the release.
“This was a tragedy that has impacted not only Alex’s family but the entire Highlands Ranch community,” Sheriff Darren Weekly stated in the release. “As the sheriff, I take traffic safety very seriously, and we will continue to work hard to make our roadways safer through public education and traffic enforcement.”
A 40-year-old Commerce City man was arrested in connection with a fatal hit-and-run crash that killed an accomplished wheelchair fencer on Friday, according to the Lakewood Police Department.
Chavez was out on bail after being arrested on suspicion of vehicular eluding in Adams County, according to court records. He posted a $2,500 bail in the case in October.
Chavez previously pleaded guilty in separate cases to charges of driving under restraint, driving without a license, obstructing a peace officer, weapons possession and possession of contraband in a detention facility, according to court records.
The hit-and-run occurred near West 23rd Avenue and Kipling Street at 7:24 p.m. Friday when a Chevy Camaro fatally struck a pedestrian and fled the scene. The pedestrian was later identified as 29-year-old Terre Engdahl, an award-winning parafencer who lived in Lakewood.
Chavez is in custody at the Jefferson County Jail on a $10,000 cash bail and is set to appear in court Tuesday.
Police are still searching for the Camaro, which sustained heavy front-end and windshield damage and is missing the driver’s side headlight. The car’s Colorado license plate, DWB-P87, may have been removed.
Anyone with information can call Lakewood police at 303-983-7300 and ask for Detective Moffat.
The total number of passengers involved in the crash is unknown, but three people were taken to the hospital, one with serious injuries, the post stated.
West Metro Fire Rescue crews responded to the scene.
