Speed a possible factor in Wednesday’s 6-car crash near Basalt
Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times
Two boys and a Carbondale woman suffered life-threatening injuries Wednesday near Basalt after a possibly speeding truck careened across the Highway 82 median and struck the car they were in head-on, a police spokesman said Thursday.
The six-car crash, which occurred about 8 a.m. near Jim Granger Lane on Highway 82, closed the busy road in both directions for nearly seven hours Wednesday as officers led by the Colorado State Patrol investigated it.
A 6-year-old boy, a 9-year-old boy and a 1-year-old girl were riding in a Honda CRV driven by a 31-year-old woman heading eastbound when a westbound Ford F-150 truck missed a curve on the highway, continued straight across the median and hit the Honda head-on, said Trooper Gary Cutler, a CSP spokesman.
An eastbound Ford Super Cab pickup then struck the Honda and ended up wedged against a concrete barrier, he said. An eastbound GMC Sierra pickup then swerved to miss the truck and was hit by the westbound Ford that crossed the median, which then lost a wheel that struck a sixth eastbound vehicle, Cutler said.
The two boys were helicoptered to Children’s Hospital in Denver, while the 31-year-old woman was flown to St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, he said. Their conditions were not available Thursday. The 1-year-old girl, who was in a car seat, suffered minor injuries and was treated at Aspen Valley Hospital.
The driver of the westbound Ford — a 51-year-old man from New Castle — suffered moderate injuries and was transported to Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs. His condition also was not available.
Cutler said alcohol and drugs are not suspected in the crash, though CSP was investigating excessive speed as a factor in the crash.
The drivers of the other four cars were not injured in the accident, he said.
