What counts as a catastrophic injury under Colorado law?

Colorado law does not set a single fixed definition, but the term is generally used for injuries that permanently change how you live: traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, severe burns, the loss of a limb, and other harm that requires ongoing medical care or support. What matters most for your claim is not the label, but the long-term impact of the injury on your health, your ability to work, and your daily life.

How long do I have to file a catastrophic injury claim in Colorado?

It depends on how the injury happened. If it arose from a car, truck, or motorcycle crash, you generally have three years from the date of the accident. For most other negligence-based injuries, such as a fall on unsafe property, the deadline is generally two years. If a government entity may be responsible, you generally must file written notice within 182 days, well before either deadline would otherwise run. Because the correct deadline depends on the facts of your case, it is worth confirming it early.

Is there a cap on what I can recover for a catastrophic injury?

Colorado does not cap economic damages, such as medical bills, future care, and lost income, which are often the largest part of a catastrophic injury claim. Non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, are capped for most claims filed on or after January 1, 2025. Because economic damages are uncapped, thoroughly documenting the true, lifetime cost of the injury is one of the most important parts of the case.

Why do catastrophic injury claims usually need outside experts?

The cost of a serious injury rarely ends when treatment does. Ongoing care, home modifications, assistive equipment, and lost future earning capacity can extend for decades. Medical and vocational experts help translate a diagnosis into a realistic projection of what your care and lost income will actually cost over your lifetime, which is often the difference between a settlement that covers your future needs and one that falls short.

What if I was partially at fault for the accident that caused my injury?

You can still recover damages as long as you were less than 50 percent at fault, with your recovery reduced by your own percentage of fault. If you are found 50 percent or more at fault, you cannot recover from the other party. Given how much is often at stake in a catastrophic injury claim, how fault is investigated and argued matters a great deal.

What if my loved one can no longer make decisions for themselves?

Some catastrophic injuries affect a person's cognitive function or ability to communicate, which can require a family member to seek a legal guardianship or conservatorship before a claim can move forward on their behalf. This adds a layer most personal injury claims do not have, and it is worth raising early so the right legal steps happen in the right order.

How long do I have to file a truck accident lawsuit in Colorado?

Claims arising from the use or operation of a motor vehicle, including semi-truck and tractor-trailer crashes, generally must be filed within three years. If a government entity may share fault, written notice is required within 182 days, a far shorter window. The practical deadline is often sooner than the legal one, because critical carrier records can be destroyed on routine schedules within months of the crash.

Who do I sue after a semi-truck accident, the driver or the company?

Often both, and frequently others. The motor carrier is generally responsible for its driver's on-the-job negligence, and it can also be directly liable for its own failures in hiring, training, scheduling, or maintenance. Shippers, cargo loaders, maintenance contractors, and brokers can share responsibility depending on the facts. Identifying every liable party matters because it determines the insurance available to pay the claim.

Are truck drivers held to different standards than other drivers?

Yes. Commercial drivers must hold a CDL, follow federal hours-of-service limits, submit to drug and alcohol testing, and operate under a stricter impairment threshold of 0.04 percent blood alcohol, half the limit for other drivers. Their employers must inspect and maintain vehicles under federal rules. Violations of these standards are often central to proving a truck accident claim.

The trucking company's insurer already offered me a settlement. Should I take it?

Be cautious with any early offer. Quick settlements are typically made before the full extent of your injuries and future costs is known, and accepting one ends your claim permanently, even if your condition worsens. Before signing anything, it is worth having an attorney review the offer against the actual long-term cost of your injuries. Elkus & Sisson offers a free consultation for exactly that purpose.

What is my truck accident claim worth?

There is no fixed formula, but truck claims are often worth more than car crash claims for two reasons: the injuries tend to be more severe, and there is usually more insurance available because federal law requires carriers to hold higher coverage. Your claim generally reflects your economic losses, which Colorado does not cap, plus noneconomic losses like pain and suffering, which are capped for most injury claims filed on or after January 1, 2025. Shared fault reduces recovery, which is why the insurer's version of events should never go unchallenged. Documenting the full long-term cost is what protects the value of the claim.

What evidence should be preserved after an 18-wheeler crash?

The most important records belong to the carrier: electronic logging device data, engine control module data, driver qualification files, drug and alcohol test results, inspection and maintenance records, dispatch records, and any dashcam footage. On your side, keep photos from the scene, witness contact information, medical records, and all correspondence from insurers. A preservation letter from an attorney puts the carrier on legal notice not to destroy its records.

Colorado Truck Accident Statistics

Truck accidents are a small share of all crashes on Colorado roads, but they can produce especially severe consequences, largely because of the size and weight of the vehicles involved. This page brings together current national data from federal safety agencies alongside what is publicly available about truck crashes in Colorado specifically.

This data is provided for general reference. It is not a substitute for a full investigation into a specific crash, which is where our Colorado truck accident attorneys begin every case.

National Truck Accident Data

According to NHTSA’s 2023 Large Trucks Traffic Safety Facts^[1], 5,375 large trucks were involved in fatal traffic crashes nationwide in 2023, the most recent year for which FARS data are finalized. That was about an 8.5 percent decrease from 2022 but roughly a 43 percent increase from 2014. A large truck is generally defined in federal crash data as a truck with a gross vehicle weight rating over 10,000 pounds.

Federal data also shows that Class 7 and 8 heavy-duty trucks, the largest commercial vehicles on the road, account for approximately 70 percent of large trucks involved in fatal crashes^[4], which is one reason FMCSA is currently focusing new research specifically on that category of vehicle.

What Federal Research Says About Truck Crash Factors

The most detailed federal study of factors involved in serious large-truck crashes remains the Large Truck Crash Causation Study^[2], a joint FMCSA and NHTSA study of 967 injury and fatal crashes from 2001 to 2003. FMCSA reported that action or inaction by a driver, whether the truck driver or another driver, was identified as the critical reason in about 88 percent of the crashes studied^[3]. When the critical reason was assigned specifically to the large truck itself, which happened in only about 55 percent of the study’s crashes, driver-related reasons accounted for 87.2 percent of those assignments^[2]. FMCSA cautions that a “critical reason” is not, by itself, the legal or scientific cause of a crash, and that many factors may contribute to a collision^[2].

That study is now more than two decades old. FMCSA is currently conducting a new nationwide crash causal factors study^[4], expected to update these findings with more current data on driver, vehicle, motor carrier, and environmental factors. Until that research is complete, the original study remains the most detailed causation data publicly available, and it continues to inform how trucking company liability and truck driver fatigue are investigated in individual cases today.

Colorado wage and hour law materials, employee pay statement, calculator, and payroll documents on a legal office desk.

Truck Accidents in Colorado

Colorado’s official source for current crash data is the CDOT Crash Data Dashboard and Fatal Crash Data pages[5], which are updated on a rolling basis as reports from law enforcement are finalized and provide statewide and county-level detail on crashes involving commercial trucks.

CDOT publishes statewide crash data through its Crash Data Dashboard and annual crash-data listings. Recent data may be revised as records are updated, so figures should be identified by year and retrieval date when cited.

Major interstate corridors such as I-70, I-25, and I-76 carry substantial commercial traffic and present conditions that can affect truck safety, including congestion, steep grades, and winter weather.

Why Truck Accidents Are Often More Severe

Heavy commercial trucks can weigh many times more than passenger vehicles, increasing the forces involved when the two collide. Large-truck crashes can produce especially severe consequences for people outside the truck: in 2023, NHTSA reported that 70 percent of the people killed in crashes involving large trucks were occupants of other vehicles^[1].

What This Data Means When Building a Case

National and state statistics explain broad patterns, but they do not establish what happened in a specific crash. That comes from evidence after a truck accident, including driver logs, black box data, and maintenance records, gathered and analyzed for the facts of that particular case.

Reading Truck Accident Data With the Right Context

Numbers alone do not tell you what happened in your crash, but they explain why truck accident cases are handled differently than an ordinary car accident claim from the very first phone call.

Scale changes the stakes, not just the paperwork. A crash involving an 80,000-pound commercial vehicle carries a fundamentally different severity profile than a crash between two passenger cars, which is part of why these cases involve deeper investigation from the outset.

Causation research is dated, but still instructive. The most detailed federal study remains more than two decades old. It found driver-related factors played a major role in many crashes studied, while cautioning that its “critical reason” coding is not a complete determination of cause.

State-level detail requires a state-level source. National data explains broad patterns, but the specific facts of a Colorado crash, including local road conditions, seasonal weather, and county-level crash trends, come from Colorado’s own crash data, not a national average.

None of this data can tell you what happened in your specific crash. That comes from an investigation into the facts of your case, including the records discussed on our evidence checklist, not from a statistic on this page.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many truck accidents happen in Colorado each year?

CDOT maintains Colorado’s official statewide crash data through its Crash Data Dashboard and annual crash-data listings. Because recent records can be revised, truck-crash totals should be checked against CDOT’s current data for the specific year being discussed.

How many people die in large truck crashes each year nationally?

According to NHTSA’s 2023 Large Trucks Traffic Safety Facts, 5,375 large trucks were involved in fatal crashes nationwide in 2023, the most recent finalized year of FARS data, a decrease from 2022 but part of a longer-term increase since 2014. Separately, NHTSA reported 5,472 total deaths in crashes involving large trucks that year, which counts people killed rather than trucks involved, a related but different measure.

What causes most truck accidents?

The most detailed federal analysis remains the Large Truck Crash Causation Study, a joint FMCSA and NHTSA study of crashes from 2001 to 2003. FMCSA reported that driver action or inaction, by either the truck driver or another driver, was the critical reason in about 88 percent of the crashes studied, while cautioning that a “critical reason” is not by itself the legal or scientific cause of a crash. That study is now over two decades old, and FMCSA is currently conducting a new nationwide causation study expected to update these findings with more current data.

Are truck accidents more dangerous than car accidents?

Large-truck crashes can produce especially severe consequences for people outside the truck. In 2023, NHTSA reported that 70 percent of the people killed in crashes involving large trucks were occupants of other vehicles, reflecting the size and weight difference between a loaded commercial truck and a passenger car.

Where can I find official Colorado truck accident data myself?

CDOT publishes crash data through its Crash Data Dashboard and Fatal Crash Data pages, which include statewide and county-level detail and are updated as new reports are finalized. National data is available through FMCSA’s Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts report and NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System.

Talk to a Colorado Truck Accident Attorney

Statistics can explain broad patterns, but they cannot tell you what happened in your crash or what your claim may be worth. Elkus & Sisson, P.C. represents injured drivers and families across Denver, Greenwood Village, Lakewood, Aurora, and Boulder in personal injury matters including truck accident claims, trucking company liability, catastrophic injury, and wrongful death. You can also learn more about our Colorado office locations and the communities we serve.

If you have questions about a truck accident in Colorado, contact us or call +1 303-567-7981 to schedule a confidential consultation.

Donald Sisson

Donald Sisson is an accomplished lead counsel in Denver, CO with many successful outcomes in various areas of practice including complex civil litigation, construction law, real estate litigation, corporate disputes, personal injury, and police defense…

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Reid Elkus

Reid Elkus’ representation of his clients ranges from individual and small businesses to very large corporations in several areas of the law. Having litigated a vast array of cases in matters including complex security cases, breach of contract, breach of partnership matters…

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Talk With a Colorado Truck Accident Attorney

If you were injured in a crash involving a commercial truck anywhere in Colorado, contact Elkus & Sisson, P.C., to schedule a consultation. Our Colorado truck accident attorneys can review what happened, discuss the evidence that may be available, explain applicable deadlines, and outline legal options for pursuing compensation for medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, and other damages that may be available under Colorado law.