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Commerce City Pedestrian Accident Lawyers Who Make the At-Fault Driver Pay

Brighton Boulevard, Vasquez Boulevard, and the crosswalks near Dick's Sporting Goods Park put pedestrians in daily conflict with industrial freight traffic. When a driver fails to yield at a crosswalk or cuts a turn into someone on foot, CGH Injury Lawyers goes to work before the insurer rewrites the story. Serving Commerce City from our Denver office. No fee unless we win.

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Commerce City's freight-heavy corridors, including Brighton Boulevard and the Vasquez Boulevard approach to the Suncor refinery, were built to move trucks, not protect people on foot. When a driver fails to yield at a crosswalk or sweeps a left turn through an unmarked intersection and strikes you, Colorado law was almost certainly on your side even before an adjuster starts calling it your fault.

  • Every intersection in Commerce City where two roadways meet and sidewalks are present is a legal crosswalk, with or without painted lines. Under C.R.S. 42-4-802, drivers must yield to pedestrians at both marked and unmarked crossings, so "there were no stripes" is not a defense.
  • Colorado's modified comparative negligence rule (C.R.S. 13-21-111) lets you recover damages as long as you are found less than 50 percent at fault. A driver's speed, inattention, or impairment on a Commerce City commercial corridor can carry most of the fault even when you share some of it.
  • Your own auto policy's uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage may apply even though you were on foot. Hit-and-run crashes and underinsured commercial drivers are both situations where your own UM/UIM coverage becomes your primary recovery source.

CGH Injury Lawyers represents pedestrians struck by vehicles in Commerce City and across Adams County from our Denver office. We visit accident scenes, request intersection camera footage before it is overwritten, and challenge police reports that treat an injured pedestrian as the cause of a driver's careless turn. Free first consultation, and no fee unless we win.

Colorado law

Colorado pedestrian right-of-way law and what it means for Commerce City crossings

C.R.S. 42-4-802 is the statute that decides whether a Commerce City driver was required to stop for you. It is also the statute insurance adjusters try hardest to write around after a pedestrian crash.

Under C.R.S. 42-4-802, a driver approaching any crosswalk, painted or unmarked, must yield the right of way to a pedestrian who is in the crosswalk or close enough to be in danger if the driver proceeds. Once you have entered the crosswalk, every lane of traffic traveling in the same direction must stop and remain stopped until you have safely crossed, and no driver may pass a vehicle that has already stopped to let you through.

  • The duty to yield applies at painted crosswalks with stripes or signals and at unmarked crosswalks where a sidewalk meets an intersection. Paint is not what creates the crosswalk; the intersection geometry does.
  • Commerce City's industrial block structure, with long stretches of Brighton Boulevard and Vasquez Boulevard between marked crossings, often pushes pedestrians to cross at intersections with no paint. Those crossings are still legal under Colorado law.
  • C.R.S. 42-4-803 imposes duties on pedestrians too: crossing mid-block requires yielding to vehicles, and traffic signals must be obeyed when present. Even a pedestrian who breaks one of those rules retains the right to pursue a claim under comparative negligence, as long as the driver bears more than half the fault.

How crashes happen here

The pedestrian crash patterns specific to Commerce City roads

Pedestrian crashes in Commerce City follow patterns tied to the city's industrial road network. Knowing the pattern in your case links directly to which driver duty was violated and how we prove it.

  1. Commercial vehicle left-hook turns on Brighton Boulevard

    Tanker trucks and freight vehicles turning left off Brighton Boulevard near the Suncor refinery approach concentrate on oncoming traffic in the lane they are crossing and rarely check for pedestrians in the crosswalk. Under C.R.S. 42-4-802, a turning driver must yield to any pedestrian in or near the crosswalk. The driver's attention being on vehicles is not a defense.

  2. The second-lane strike on Vasquez Boulevard

    A driver in the first lane of Vasquez Boulevard stops at a crosswalk to let you cross. A driver in the second lane, unable to see past the stopped vehicle, rolls through and strikes you. C.R.S. 42-4-802 expressly forbids passing a vehicle stopped at a crosswalk for a pedestrian. The second-lane driver bears direct statutory liability.

  3. Event-day crossings near Dick's Sporting Goods Park

    Dick's Sporting Goods Park at 6000 Victory Way draws crowds for Colorado Rapids matches and concerts. Event-day traffic surges push unfamiliar drivers onto Victory Way and 60th Avenue, where pedestrians cross to and from parking areas under time pressure. Distracted, impatient, and unfamiliar drivers in that environment create elevated pedestrian strike risk at marked and unmarked crossings alike.

  4. Distribution center driveway crossings

    The Amazon, FedEx, UPS, McLane, and Old Dominion distribution centers in Commerce City generate high volumes of truck traffic entering and exiting driveways at all hours. A driver pulling out of a distribution center entrance has a duty to yield to pedestrians on the sidewalk crossing that driveway. These low-speed but high-weight strikes cause serious orthopedic and traumatic brain injuries.

  5. The complex 60th Avenue and Vasquez intersection

    The 8-way intersection at 60th Avenue and Vasquez Boulevard, which CDOT has identified as a safety problem and is actively redesigning, creates driver confusion about who has the right of way. That confusion translates into pedestrian strikes where a driver misreads the signal or geometry and proceeds when a pedestrian is already crossing.

Partly at fault?

What if you were partly at fault for the Commerce City crash?

Insurers in pedestrian cases start with the word jaywalking. Whether you crossed against the signal at a Commerce City intersection, stepped off a curb on Brighton Boulevard outside a marked crosswalk, or crossed mid-block on Vasquez, Colorado comparative negligence law still gives you a path to recovery.

The 50 percent bar (C.R.S. 13-21-111)

Colorado uses a modified comparative negligence system. You can recover damages as long as your share of fault is less than 50 percent. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, but you keep the rest.

  • Found 0 percent at fault, you recover 100 percent of your damages.
  • Found 20 percent at fault, you recover 80 percent of your damages.
  • Found 49 percent at fault, you recover 51 percent of your damages.
  • Found 50 percent or more at fault, you recover nothing.

The adjuster's job is to push your fault percentage as high as possible. On Commerce City's industrial corridors, where trucks run at highway speeds and crosswalk signals are widely spaced, a driver who was speeding, distracted, or impaired can bear most of the fault even when a pedestrian crossed outside a marked crossing. We use accident reconstruction, dashcam footage, and witness testimony to show the driver had the time and distance to stop, and to contain the comparative fault argument where the insurer raises it.

How it works

How we handle your Commerce City pedestrian accident case from start to finish

A pedestrian claim in Commerce City moves through clear stages, from a free case review through trial in Adams County District Court when an insurer refuses to be fair. Most cases resolve before trial, but we prepare every case as if it will be tried in Brighton.

  1. Free case review

    We review where the crash happened in Commerce City or Adams County, the police report, your injuries, and the fault picture. We tell you honestly what your claim is worth and what challenges we anticipate. This costs you nothing and obligates you to nothing.

  2. Secure the crash report and perishable evidence

    We obtain the Colorado Traffic Crash Report from the Commerce City Police Department, Adams County Sheriff's Office, or Colorado State Patrol depending on where the crash occurred. We request intersection camera footage immediately, since cameras on Brighton Boulevard and Vasquez Boulevard can overwrite recordings within days. Dashcam footage from commercial vehicles in the area is also a priority target.

  3. Document the full injury

    We build the complete medical record from emergency treatment through follow-up care, physical therapy, and any long-term disability. Pedestrian crash injuries commonly include traumatic brain injuries, spinal fractures, pelvic fractures, internal organ damage, and lower-limb injuries that require prolonged rehabilitation. If you were treated at HCA HealthONE North Suburban Medical Center or the UCHealth Commerce City emergency room, those records form the backbone of your damages claim.

  4. Identify every insurance source

    We confirm the at-fault driver's liability coverage and check your own auto policy for uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage, which applies even when you were on foot. In hit-and-run crashes on Commerce City streets, your own UM/UIM coverage is often the only source of compensation. We also check homeowner and umbrella policies that might respond.

  5. Demand and negotiate from trial readiness

    We send a documented demand and negotiate from genuine trial readiness, not from a position of needing to settle. When the at-fault vehicle is a commercial carrier, we also investigate the driver's log, the carrier's inspection records, and any prior safety violations by the company.

  6. File in Adams County District Court if needed

    If the insurer will not pay a fair amount, we file in Adams County District Court at the Adams County Justice Center, 1100 Judicial Center Dr., Brighton, CO 80601, in the 17th Judicial District, and present your case to an Adams County jury.

Local knowledge

Commerce City courts. Adams County trauma care. The roads and crossings where pedestrian crashes happen.

A Commerce City pedestrian accident case lives in Commerce City: the crossing where the crash happened, the hospital that treated you, and the courthouse where your case may be filed. Here is the ground we work on.

Courthouse

Adams County District Court, 17th Judicial District

A Commerce City pedestrian accident lawsuit is filed in Adams County District Court at the Adams County Justice Center, 1100 Judicial Center Dr., Brighton, CO 80601, in the 17th Judicial District. The local jury pool, the defense firms you face, and the procedural rules all differ from other Front Range counties. CGH Injury Lawyers handles Adams County District Court cases directly from our Denver office. CGH Injury Lawyers does not have a Commerce City office. We serve Adams County from our Denver location and file where your case belongs.

Trauma Care

HCA HealthONE North Suburban Medical Center (Level II Trauma Center) and UCHealth Commerce City ER

HCA HealthONE North Suburban Medical Center is the Level II Trauma Center designated by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in Adams County. Pedestrians struck by vehicles, especially on high-speed corridors like Brighton Boulevard or near the Vasquez Boulevard freight traffic, are among the most severely injured patients transported there: pelvic fractures, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and major vessel injuries are common in pedestrian-vehicle collisions at commerce city road speeds. UCHealth also operates a freestanding emergency room in Commerce City for less severe injuries, though it does not hold a trauma designation. Records from both facilities document the scope of your injuries and form the foundation of your damages claim.

Where Pedestrian Crashes Happen in Commerce City

Brighton Boulevard, Vasquez Boulevard, Victory Way, and the 60th Avenue corridor

Commerce City's pedestrian environment is shaped by its industrial character. Brighton Boulevard carries tanker and freight traffic for the Suncor refinery and has long blocks with widely spaced crossings. Vasquez Boulevard moves 40,000 or more vehicles per day, and its 8-way junction at 60th Avenue, which CDOT has identified as a safety concern and is actively redesigning, creates driver confusion at pedestrian crossings. Victory Way and the streets around Dick's Sporting Goods Park at 6000 Victory Way generate pedestrian foot traffic that spikes on event days. Police response is handled by the Commerce City Police Department for city streets, the Adams County Sheriff's Office for unincorporated county areas, and the Colorado State Patrol for state highway corridors.

Compensation

What compensation can you recover after a pedestrian crash in Commerce City?

Colorado law lets injured pedestrians recover two broad categories of damages: economic losses you can document with bills and records, and non-economic losses for the human cost of a serious injury. The breakdown matters because the two categories are treated differently under Colorado law.

Economic damages (no cap)

  • Emergency care, surgery, and hospitalization
  • Rehabilitation and long-term care
  • Lost wages and lost earning capacity
  • Future medical costs and assistive devices
  • Out-of-pocket expenses tied to the crash

Non-economic damages (capped)

  • Pain and suffering
  • Emotional distress, anxiety, and PTSD
  • Loss of enjoyment of life
  • Loss of consortium for a spouse

The caps that apply and the categories that are uncapped

For claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025, Colorado caps non-economic damages at $1,500,000 under C.R.S. 13-21-102.5. Economic damages such as medical bills, lost wages, and future care costs carry no cap at all. Compensation for physical impairment and disfigurement is also uncapped, which is significant in pedestrian cases where a vehicle strike at speed commonly produces permanent orthopedic damage, limb injuries, or facial scarring. In catastrophic pedestrian crash cases, the total economic losses and physical impairment awards often exceed the non-economic cap by a substantial margin. We build every claim around the full uncapped categories first.

When a pedestrian crash takes a life

If a Commerce City crash killed someone you love, surviving family members can pursue a wrongful death claim for funeral and burial expenses, loss of financial support, and loss of companionship. For wrongful death claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025, the non-economic cap is $2,125,000 under C.R.S. 13-21-203(1)(a). No amount of money undoes what happened, but fair compensation pays for the best care available and gives a family room to rebuild.

Who pays

Insurance coverage for pedestrian accidents in Commerce City

More than one insurance policy may cover your injuries after a Commerce City pedestrian crash. Identifying every source of coverage is how we maximize your recovery, especially when the at-fault driver carries minimal limits or flees the scene.

  • The at-fault driver's liability coverage is the primary source. Colorado requires drivers to carry minimum liability coverage of $25,000 per person for bodily injury. A commercial vehicle driver, such as a Suncor tanker or a FedEx delivery truck, will typically carry a much higher commercial policy limit, which is one reason we investigate the vehicle's owner and operator carefully from the start.
  • Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage applies even when you were on foot. Under Colorado law and the holding in Pham v. State Farm, 2013 CO 17, UM/UIM coverage governed by C.R.S. 13-80-107.5 responds to pedestrian injuries when the at-fault driver carries too little insurance or leaves the scene.
  • MedPay coverage on any auto policy in your household can pay early medical bills while the liability claim develops. Health insurers and MedPay carriers often hold subrogation rights. We negotiate those liens directly so you keep more of your total recovery.

Do not give a recorded statement to any insurer, sign a medical authorization, or accept a fast settlement offer before speaking with an attorney. Early settlements in pedestrian cases are almost always structured to close out the claim before the full extent of your injuries is known.

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Your team

The team handling your Commerce City pedestrian accident case

CGH Injury Lawyers is a eight-attorney Colorado 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. We visit accident scenes, collect intersection camera footage before it is overwritten, and challenge police reports that reach wrong conclusions. Every Commerce City pedestrian case is handled by a licensed Colorado attorney, not a paralegal.

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

Frequently asked questions

Commerce City pedestrian accident cases, frequently asked questions

Do drivers have to stop for pedestrians at unmarked crosswalks in Commerce City?

Yes. Under C.R.S. 42-4-802, drivers must yield to pedestrians at both marked crosswalks with painted lines and at unmarked crosswalks at intersections. Every intersection in Commerce City where two roadways meet and sidewalks are present is a legal crosswalk, even on Brighton Boulevard or Vasquez Boulevard where stripes are absent. The lack of paint does not erase the driver's duty to yield.

Can I recover damages if I was crossing outside a crosswalk in Commerce City?

Often, yes. C.R.S. 42-4-803 requires pedestrians crossing mid-block to yield to vehicles, but crossing mid-block does not automatically bar a claim. Colorado's modified comparative negligence rule (C.R.S. 13-21-111) allows you to recover as long as your share of fault is less than 50 percent. On Commerce City's commercial corridors, a driver who was speeding, texting, or impaired may carry the majority of fault even when a pedestrian crossed outside a marked crossing. We use accident reconstruction and road-speed data to make that argument.

Where would my Commerce City pedestrian accident lawsuit be filed?

A pedestrian accident lawsuit arising from a Commerce City crash is filed in Adams County District Court at the Adams County Justice Center, 1100 Judicial Center Dr., Brighton, CO 80601, in the 17th Judicial District. CGH Injury Lawyers handles Adams County District Court cases directly from our Denver office. There is no Commerce City office. Most cases settle before a lawsuit is filed, but knowing where your case would be tried shapes how we negotiate with the at-fault driver's insurer.

How long do I have to file a pedestrian accident claim in Colorado?

For most pedestrian accidents involving a motor vehicle, Colorado gives you three years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit, because the claim arises out of the use or operation of a motor vehicle (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)). If the at-fault driver was operating a government vehicle, such as a city bus or a public works truck, a formal written notice of claim is required within 182 days of discovering the injury under C.R.S. 24-10-109(1). Do not wait until the deadline approaches: intersection camera footage can be overwritten within days and witness memories fade. Contact us as soon as possible.

My car insurance covers me as a pedestrian?

Yes, in many situations. If you carry uninsured or underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage on your auto policy, it can pay your medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering after a Commerce City pedestrian crash even though you were not in a vehicle. This matters most when the at-fault driver has minimal coverage or fled the scene. Colorado UM/UIM claims for pedestrian injuries are governed by C.R.S. 13-80-107.5 under Pham v. State Farm, 2013 CO 17. Check your policy declarations or call us and we will help you confirm your coverage.

What should I do immediately after being struck by a vehicle in Commerce City?

Seek medical attention first, even if you feel able to stand. Internal injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and spinal trauma often produce no immediate symptoms after a pedestrian-vehicle collision. Call 911 to report the crash and request police and medical response. If you are able, photograph the scene, the vehicle, any crosswalk markings, traffic signals, and your injuries. Get the driver's insurance information and the names and contact details of any witnesses. Do not give a recorded statement to any insurer before speaking with a lawyer. Call CGH Injury Lawyers at (303) 209-9395.

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Read next: How Colorado pedestrian accident law works

CGH Injury Lawyers · Serving Commerce City and Adams County from 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205