A small child, who was critically hurt and airlifted to a hospital via Flight For Life, was one of 18 people who were hospitalized after five vehicles including an RV collided on southbound I-25 just south of Monument, Colorado, Saturday. A second helicopter transported an adult patient.
The crash happened between the Baptist (158) and Northgate (156) exits just after noon, reports KKTV.
“Following too close seems to be the chief cause,” said Master Trooper David Conway with Colorado State Patrol.
Conway said the driver of the RV, who caused the crash, acknowledged he couldn’t stop quickly enough.
“According to his own statement, he couldn’t stop in time. Again, to be too close … you have to provide more space, especially with wet roads. They all indicate that the roads were wet but it wasn’t raining or snowing at the time.”
A short-lived “snow squall” blitzed through the area about 45 minutes prior to the crash, according to 11 News meteorologist Lucy Bergemann.
“It’s like driving a bus or any large vehicle,” Conway went on. “There is a lot of weight, you have to provide more room. You cannot stop a large motorhome in the distance you can stop a motorcycle. It takes more time.”
At least 11 people in the collision were heading to or from a family function. Troopers said seven children were riding in a passenger van involved in the crash.
The 3-year-old and the adult were flown to the hospital and were the most seriously injured. Other injuries in the crash ranged from serious broken bones to cuts and bruises. Everyone was wearing a seat belt.
I see this too often when driving with my 5th Wheel on the Interstate. People driving to fast for conditions and always following to close!
For those who are willing to LISTEN, PLEASE SLOW DOWN and PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR DRIVING!
Wonder if any of the drivers in this episode learned anything about following to close. Probably not-it will happen again.
Just because you CAN pull your trailer (or drive your motorhome) at 75-80 mph doesn’t mean you should. Leave plenty of room for those other guys to make mistakes that you can adjust for and avoid getting involved.
We always try to leave plenty of distance between us and the vehicle in front, but so many times someone whips into that space just as a stop is occurring and – poof – there goes our safety space!
This happens to me so often that I broke down and bought a dash cam for my RV. At least I’ll have the evidence if I’m forced into an accident because of it.
I have done the same. Need proof with a dash cam if a driver in front causes a problem.
I have the same problem whether driving a motorhome or a regular passenger vehicle. I leave more space between the other vehicles and me than anyone else on the road does. However, as Linda said, someone ALWAYS jumps in front of me. I then slow down to retain my spacing, and then speed up when I can maintain the gap. Of course, it just keeps happening. But I don’t lose my patience–I just watch the traffic up ahead (and traffic lights if there are any), and start slowing down early if the distant traffic slows. But I can’t control for the idiot who jumps in front of me and slams on the brakes! I think I’d better get a dash cam also, squeakytiki. . .
We alway leave plenty of room, never in a hurry. As other have said when coming to a stop someone will whip in front of us. They have no clue what it takes to stop a RV of any type. Can only control what what you can.
Another reason drivers of large motor homes should be required to have a special license…many drivers cannot handle the weight and have no real experience with large rigs. I have seen many blow through stop lights and intersections because “they could not stop in time”. If they are that incompetent they have no business herding a 20-30 thousand pound coach down the road. Yuma is full of those types.