An elderly wrong-way driver who caused a four-vehicle crash that closed E-470 for several hours Wednesday evening was the person who was killed in the wreck. Three other people involved were taken to hospitals with moderate to serious injuries.
The wrong-way driver of a Dodge Caravan was identified on Thursday morning as an 86-year-old man from Loveland, who didn’t use his seatbelt and died at the scene, according to Colorado State Patrol Master Trooper Gary Cutler.
Factors, such as speed, drugs or alcohol use, could not be attributed to causing the crash.
“At this point, the vehicle was just driving northbound in the southbound lanes, and ended up hitting the vehicles there,” Cutler said in an interview.
Out of the three other vehicles involved in the accident, the 73-year-old female driver of a Chevrolet Volt sustained serious injuries, while her 72-year-old male passenger suffered moderate injuries. Both of the Aurora residents used seatbelts, and were taken to the hospital in an ambulance.
The 27-year-old female driver of a Honda CR-V also had serious injuries. The Loveland resident didn’t use her seatbelt, and was also taken to the hospital in an ambulance.
Neither the 42-year-old male driver of a Cadillac Escalade from Salida nor his three passengers suffered injuries. All of them wore their seatbelts.
According to Cutler, the Chevrolet Volt, Honda CR-V and Cadillac Escalade were all driving southbound at approximately 4:30 p.m. when the wrong-way driver approached in the Dodge Caravan, driving northbound. The Cadillac Escalade swerved to the left, and the Chevy Volt swerved to the right.The wrong-way driver struck the sides of both cars. The Honda CR-V swerved to avoid the other vehicles, and hit the wrong-way driver’s left side.
After an initial shutdown, the lanes of E-470 reopened last night, Cutler said. If any closures occur on Thursday, it’s likely due to road crews, he added.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
