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Centennial, Colorado highway at night. CGH Injury Lawyers represents victims of drunk and drugged drivers across Arapahoe County.

IT'S MORE THAN MONEY.

Centennial DUI Accident Lawyers Who Pursue Every Dollar the Drunk Driver and the Bar Owe You

A drunk or drugged driver hit you on I-25, Arapahoe Road, Parker Road, or anywhere else in Centennial. Now an Arapahoe County insurer wants to minimize what you collect. CGH Injury Lawyers serves Centennial and all of Arapahoe County from our Denver office, pursues the driver, the bar that overserved them, and your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, and tries cases in Arapahoe County District Court when an insurer refuses to be fair. You pay nothing unless we win.

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When a drunk or drugged driver crashes into you on Arapahoe Road, Parker Road, or I-25 in Centennial, you have a civil claim for your losses that runs completely separately from the criminal case the district attorney files against the driver. The criminal case punishes the driver. Your civil claim pursues your money. CGH Injury Lawyers represents victims, never impaired drivers, and pursues every source of recovery the law allows.

  • A driver who violates Colorado's drunk and drugged driving laws is treated as negligent for causing the crash under the doctrine of negligence per se. In most Centennial DUI crash cases, the real fight is over the value of your injuries and which insurance policies pay, not over whether the driver did something wrong.
  • The bar, restaurant, or private social host that overserved the driver may also owe you money. Colorado's Dram Shop Act (C.R.S. 44-3-801) gives us one year from the date the alcohol was served to file that claim, and bar video and point-of-sale records disappear fast. We act immediately to preserve them.
  • If the drunk driver was uninsured or underinsured, your own uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage often becomes the main source of recovery. Those claims run on their own deadline under C.R.S. 13-80-107.5, the statute the Colorado Supreme Court applied in Pham v. State Farm, 2013 CO 17, and must be tracked separately from the claim against the driver.

CGH Injury Lawyers is a eight-attorney Colorado personal injury firm. We serve Centennial and all of Arapahoe County from our Denver office. We do not have a Centennial address and do not pretend otherwise. Every case is handled by a licensed Colorado attorney, not a paralegal. We advance all costs, charge no upfront fees, and collect only when we win.

Local Knowledge

Centennial courts. Centennial trauma care. The Centennial corridors where DUI crashes happen.

A DUI accident case filed on behalf of a Centennial victim is tied to the specific roads where impaired drivers travel, the hospital that treated the injuries, and the courthouse where the jury would decide the outcome. Here is the ground we work on.

Courthouse

Arapahoe County District Court, 18th Judicial District

A Centennial DUI injury lawsuit that exceeds the county-court jurisdictional limit is filed in Arapahoe County District Court at the Arapahoe County Justice Center, 7325 S. Potomac St., Centennial, CO 80112, in the Eighteenth Judicial District. The courthouse sits in Centennial itself, which means the jury pool, local court procedures, and the defense firms defending Arapahoe County DUI cases all differ from other Colorado jurisdictions. CGH Injury Lawyers handles cases filed there directly from our Denver office without referring your case to outside counsel.

Trauma Care

HCA HealthONE Swedish and AdventHealth Littleton

The most serious Centennial DUI crash injuries are treated at HCA HealthONE Swedish (Swedish Medical Center), 501 E. Hampden Ave., Englewood, CO 80113, a state-designated Level I trauma and burn center, or at AdventHealth Littleton (formerly Littleton Adventist Hospital), 7700 S. Broadway, Littleton, CO 80122, an American College of Surgeons verified and state-designated Level II Trauma Center. DUI crashes produce high-energy impacts. Brain trauma, spinal injuries, internal bleeding, and compound fractures are common. Medical records from both facilities document the full scope of the harm and become the foundation of the damages portion of your civil claim.

High-Risk DUI Corridors

I-25, SH 88 (Arapahoe Road), SH 83 (Parker Road), E-470, and C-470

Interstate 25 runs through and adjacent to Centennial with a major interchange at Arapahoe Road that CDOT and Arapahoe County have both documented as a historically high-accident corridor. After-hours and weekend DUI crashes are concentrated on the I-25 corridor through the Denver Tech Center area. State Highway 88 (Arapahoe Road) crosses Centennial with three lanes in each direction and a nightlife and restaurant corridor that generates drunk driving exposure. State Highway 83 (Parker Road) descends into Centennial where it interchanges with Arapahoe Road; a CDOT safety study identifies narrow shoulders, numerous access points, steep side slopes, and high traffic growth as documented crash-contributing factors. E-470 and C-470, which terminates at I-25 near the Lone Tree and Centennial boundary, complete a road network where impaired driving at highway speeds causes catastrophic harm.

The law that governs your case

Why a drunk driver in Centennial is already presumed at fault: negligence per se explained

In most car crash cases you have to prove the other driver was careless. When the driver was impaired, much of that work is done for you. Knowing why changes how we value your case from day one.

Colorado follows the doctrine of negligence per se. When a person violates a safety statute designed to prevent the kind of harm that happened, to a class of people the statute was meant to protect, that violation itself can establish negligence. Drunk and drugged driving laws exist specifically to prevent impaired drivers from injuring the traveling public, so an impaired driver who causes a crash fits the doctrine directly.

In plain terms: you usually do not have to argue about whether the drunk driver did something wrong. The fact of impairment, once established through the police report, toxicology, and arrest record, does most of that work. The real fight in Centennial DUI cases is almost always about the size of your harm and which insurance policies have to pay it, not about who caused the crash.

That shift in the legal fight is why we begin with a complete investigation of your injuries and every available source of recovery, not just the driver's liability policy. When fault is already pointing at the driver, the job is to make sure no dollar of coverage is left on the table.

Two separate cases

The criminal case against the Centennial DUI driver and your separate civil claim

After a DUI crash in Centennial, two different legal processes run at the same time. They have different goals, different parties, and different outcomes. Most victims do not realize the criminal case cannot make them whole.

The criminal case

  • Brought by the State of Colorado through the district attorney in the 18th Judicial District, not by you.
  • The goal is to punish the driver with jail time, fines, probation, and license revocation.
  • You are a victim and a witness, not a party who controls the case strategy.
  • A conviction or guilty plea can become powerful evidence in your civil claim, but you do not have to wait for it.
  • The court may order restitution, but restitution is limited and rarely covers your full losses.

Your civil claim

  • Brought by you against the driver, the bar that overserved them, and any other responsible party.
  • The goal is money to make you whole: medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and future losses.
  • You control the decisions, with your lawyer's guidance.
  • It is paid by insurance in the vast majority of cases, not out of the driver's pocket directly.
  • It can proceed and even settle whether or not the driver is ever criminally convicted.

The criminal case requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Your civil claim only requires proof by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning more likely than not. A driver can sometimes avoid a criminal conviction and still be fully liable to you under civil law. Waiting for the criminal case to finish before pursuing your civil rights is one of the most costly mistakes Centennial DUI victims make, because the dram shop deadline against the bar that served the driver runs far shorter than the criminal timeline.

Every source of recovery

Who can be held responsible beyond the drunk driver in a Centennial DUI crash

The impaired driver is the obvious defendant, but they are often not the only one with coverage that can pay you. Colorado law gives you two additional sources: the bar or restaurant that put the driver on the road, and your own insurance policy when no one else can cover the gap.

Dram shop liability: the bar or restaurant (C.R.S. 44-3-801)

  • Colorado's Dram Shop Act (C.R.S. 44-3-801) allows injured people to sue a licensed vendor that willfully and knowingly served alcohol to a visibly intoxicated patron who then caused the harm.
  • The same statute covers serving anyone under 21. A licensed vendor, and in that narrower situation even a private social host, can face liability under C.R.S. 44-3-801(4) for giving a minor alcohol or a place to drink.
  • A dram shop recovery is on top of the driver's own liability, adding a second source of compensation with its own insurance.
  • The deadline is one year from the date the alcohol was sold or served. Bar video and point-of-sale records are often overwritten within days or weeks, so we move to preserve this evidence from the first call.

Your own coverage: UM and UIM

  • If the drunk driver carried no insurance, your uninsured motorist (UM) coverage steps into the at-fault driver's shoes and pays your damages directly.
  • If the driver had insurance but limits too low to cover your losses, your underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage fills the gap between what the driver's policy pays and what your damages actually are.
  • UM and UIM claims are governed by their own deadline under C.R.S. 13-80-107.5, the statute the Colorado Supreme Court applied in Pham v. State Farm, 2013 CO 17. That deadline does not match the deadline against the driver and must be tracked separately.
  • We check every policy that could respond, including coverage on other vehicles in your household and any umbrella policy, to make sure no available dollar is overlooked.

The Arapahoe Road and I-25 corridor that runs through Centennial is lined with restaurants and bars that generate late-night traffic heading south on Parker Road, I-25, and E-470. When a patron leaves one of those establishments too impaired to drive safely, the venue's commercial liquor liability insurance is a real source of recovery in addition to the driver's policy. Identifying whether a Centennial DUI driver was coming from a nearby bar or restaurant is one of the first questions we ask.

After the crash

What to do immediately after a DUI crash in Centennial

The hours after a DUI crash can make or break your civil case. These steps protect your health and preserve the evidence that an Arapahoe County insurer will later try to challenge.

  1. Call 911 and request both police and medical help

    A Centennial Police Department or Arapahoe County Sheriff's crash report that documents the officer's suspicion of impairment, field sobriety tests, and any arrest is critical evidence for your civil claim. Even if you feel fine at the scene, adrenaline masks serious injuries. Request medical evaluation and accept transport to HCA HealthONE Swedish or AdventHealth Littleton if offered.

  2. Note where the driver came from

    Ask witnesses or observe any containers or receipts in the driver's vehicle. Ask the officer whether the driver mentioned where they were drinking. This information is often the key to identifying a dram shop claim against the bar or restaurant that served them, and that claim has a one-year deadline running from the moment the alcohol was served.

  3. Photograph the scene, the vehicles, and your injuries

    Document the cross-street or interchange, road conditions, any traffic control devices, and damage to all vehicles. Photograph your injuries, your clothing, and anything else that shows the force of the impact. Collect names and phone numbers for every witness before leaving the scene.

  4. Do not give a recorded statement to any insurer

    The at-fault driver's insurer will contact you quickly and ask for a recorded statement. You are not required to give one, and anything you say can be used to minimize your claim. Call CGH before accepting any contact from an insurance company, including your own.

  5. Get ongoing medical care and keep every record

    Gaps in medical treatment give insurers a basis to argue your injuries were not serious or were caused by something other than the crash. Attend every follow-up appointment, follow your treating physician's instructions, and keep all bills, records, and correspondence from every provider.

  6. Call CGH before any deadline passes

    The claim against the at-fault driver runs three years from the crash (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)), but the dram shop claim against the bar runs just one year from when the alcohol was served. If a government vehicle or road defect contributed, a written notice of claim under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act must be filed within 182 days of discovering the injury (C.R.S. 24-10-109(1)). These clocks do not start from the same date. A free case review costs you nothing.

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Compensation

What you can recover after a DUI crash in Centennial, and how comparative fault affects your claim

Colorado law recognizes two broad categories of compensatory damages in a DUI injury case, and a third category, punitive damages, that drunk driving conduct can specifically unlock. Understanding how fault is divided also determines whether you recover at all.

Economic damages (never capped)

  • Emergency care, surgery, and follow-up treatment at Swedish Medical Center or AdventHealth Littleton
  • Future medical care and rehabilitation costs projected by life-care planners
  • Lost wages from missed work and reduced earning capacity
  • Vehicle damage and all out-of-pocket expenses flowing from the crash
  • In a fatal DUI crash, funeral costs and the surviving family's financial losses

Non-economic damages (capped with exceptions)

  • Pain and suffering, capped at $1.5 million for claims that accrued on or after January 1, 2025 (C.R.S. 13-21-102.5)
  • Emotional distress and PTSD, which are common after a violent high-speed DUI impact
  • Permanent scarring and disfigurement, which are NOT subject to the non-economic cap
  • Physical impairment, which is also NOT subject to the non-economic cap under C.R.S. 13-21-102.5
  • Loss of enjoyment of life

Punitive damages for drunk driving conduct

Drunk driving is the kind of willful and wanton conduct that can support punitive, or exemplary, damages on top of your compensatory recovery. Punitive damages in Colorado generally cannot exceed the amount of actual damages awarded (C.R.S. 13-21-102), and they require proof by clear and convincing evidence that the conduct was willful and wanton. We evaluate whether the facts of your Centennial crash support a punitive claim and pursue it when the evidence allows.

Modified comparative fault: how your share of fault affects recovery

Colorado uses modified comparative fault (C.R.S. 13-21-111). You can recover damages as long as you were less than 50 percent responsible for the crash. If you are found 50 percent or more at fault, you recover nothing. Your damages award is reduced by your percentage of fault, so if you were found 20 percent at fault, you recover 80 percent of your damages. Against an impaired driver, shifting meaningful fault onto the victim is a difficult argument, and we use the DUI arrest record, toxicology, and crash reconstruction to keep fault where it belongs.

How it works

How CGH Injury Lawyers handles a Centennial DUI accident case

A Centennial DUI injury claim moves through clear stages, from a free case review to trial in Arapahoe County District Court when an insurer refuses to be fair. Most cases resolve before a courtroom, but every case at CGH is prepared as if it will go before an Arapahoe County jury.

  1. Free case review

    We review the crash, your injuries, the criminal case status, and every party who may be responsible, then explain honestly what your claim is worth and which deadlines are already running. This costs you nothing.

  2. Immediate evidence preservation

    We obtain the crash report, the DUI arrest record, body-camera footage, and toxicology results. We send preservation letters to any bar or restaurant the driver visited before the crash so video and point-of-sale records are not overwritten. Evidence on the Arapahoe Road corridor and I-25 interchange degrades within days.

  3. Track the criminal case without waiting for it

    We monitor the criminal prosecution in the 18th Judicial District and support a well-documented restitution request while keeping your civil claim moving on its own independent timeline. A plea or conviction strengthens your civil case; a not-guilty verdict does not end it.

  4. Identify every insurance source

    We locate the driver's liability coverage, any dram shop or commercial liquor liability policy from the venue that served them, and your own UM and UIM coverage across every vehicle and umbrella policy in your household. No available dollar is left behind.

  5. Document the full scope of harm

    We build the complete medical record, including projected future care, lost earning capacity, and the emotional toll of the crash. DUI impacts on Centennial's high-speed corridors tend to produce serious injuries. Insurers routinely try to minimize harm they cannot see on a single X-ray, especially brain injuries, PTSD, and soft-tissue damage.

  6. Demand, negotiate, and try the case

    We send a fully documented demand and negotiate from genuine trial readiness. If the insurer refuses to be fair, we file in Arapahoe County District Court at 7325 S. Potomac St., Centennial. Managing Partner Kevin Cheney is a member of ABOTA and has tried over 25 cases to verdict. We do not refer your case to outside litigation counsel.

Your team

The attorneys handling your Centennial DUI accident case

CGH Injury Lawyers is a eight-attorney Colorado personal injury firm founded in 2016, formerly Cheney Galluzzi and Howard. Managing Partner Kevin Cheney is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and has tried over 25 cases to verdict. Timothy G. Tarr has been recognized by Best Lawyers every year since 2023. Every Centennial DUI accident case is handled by a licensed Colorado attorney, not a paralegal, from the first call through the final outcome. CGH Injury Lawyers does not have a Centennial office. We serve Centennial and all of Arapahoe County from our office at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205, and file in Arapahoe County District Court directly.

ABOTA member on the team Tim Tarr: Best Lawyers in America since 2023 Over 25 cases to verdict Arapahoe County District Court experience Bilingual EN / ES Free consultation No fee unless we win

Frequently asked questions

Centennial DUI accident lawyer, frequently asked questions

Should I wait for the criminal DUI case in the 18th Judicial District to finish before pursuing my civil claim?

No, and waiting is often costly. The criminal case and your civil claim are entirely separate. A dram shop claim against the bar or restaurant that overserved the driver must be filed within one year of when the alcohol was served, long before most DUI criminal cases are resolved. Bar surveillance video and point-of-sale records are typically overwritten within days or weeks. We protect your civil rights right away while the criminal case continues on its own track, and any eventual conviction or plea can later be used as evidence in your favor.

Can I sue the bar or restaurant that served the drunk driver who hit me in Centennial?

Often, yes. Colorado's Dram Shop Act (C.R.S. 44-3-801) lets you sue a licensed vendor that willfully and knowingly served alcohol to a visibly intoxicated patron, or to anyone under 21, who then caused the crash. A dram shop claim adds a second source of recovery on top of the driver's own liability coverage. The critical issue is timing. The lawsuit must be started within one year of when the alcohol was sold or served. We identify this claim at the very start and act to preserve evidence before that window closes.

The drunk driver who hit me in Centennial had no insurance. What are my options?

This is common with DUI drivers, and it is exactly where your own uninsured motorist (UM) coverage matters most. UM coverage steps into the at-fault driver's shoes and pays your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering when the driver had no insurance at all. If the driver had some coverage but not enough, your underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage fills the gap. These claims run on their own deadline under C.R.S. 13-80-107.5, the statute the Colorado Supreme Court applied in Pham v. State Farm, 2013 CO 17. We also check whether a dram shop claim exists against the venue that served the driver, which is a separate and additional source of recovery.

The insurer says I was partly at fault for the Centennial DUI crash. Does that end my case?

Not automatically. Colorado uses modified comparative fault (C.R.S. 13-21-111). You can still recover damages as long as your share of fault is less than 50 percent. Your award is reduced by your percentage of fault. If you are found 50 percent or more at fault, you recover nothing. Against an impaired driver, placing meaningful fault on the victim is a difficult argument to sustain. We use the crash report, the DUI arrest record, toxicology, and scene evidence to keep fault where it belongs and to counter the insurer's attempt to inflate your share.

How long do I have to file a claim after a DUI crash in Centennial?

It depends on which defendant you are pursuing. The claim against the at-fault driver must generally be filed within three years of the crash (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)). A dram shop claim against the bar or restaurant has a one-year deadline running from when the alcohol was served. A UM or UIM claim under your own policy has its own deadline under C.R.S. 13-80-107.5. If a government vehicle or road defect contributed, a written notice of claim must be filed within 182 days of discovering the injury under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (C.R.S. 24-10-109(1)). Because these clocks start from different events, the safest step is to have an attorney confirm every applicable deadline early.

Does CGH Injury Lawyers have an office in Centennial?

No. CGH Injury Lawyers has one physical office at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205. We serve Centennial and all of Arapahoe County from that Denver office, file cases in Arapahoe County District Court at the Arapahoe County Justice Center, 7325 S. Potomac St., Centennial, CO 80112, in the Eighteenth Judicial District, and meet clients on their schedule. We do not maintain a Centennial address and do not pretend otherwise. Call us at (303) 209-9395.

Related Centennial pages and Colorado practice areas

Centennial

DUI accident resources

Related injury cases

Firm

IT'S MORE THAN MONEY.

A drunk driver hurt you in Centennial. We handle everything else.

The dram shop clock starts the day the alcohol was sold or served. Free consultation. No fee unless we win. Serving Centennial and Arapahoe County from Denver. Available in English and Spanish.

Get My Free Case Review (303) 209-9395

Read next: How Colorado DUI accident law works statewide

CGH Injury Lawyers · Serving Centennial from 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205