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I-25 and CO-392 interchange near Windsor, Colorado. CGH Injury Lawyers represents DUI accident victims in Windsor and Northern Colorado from our Denver office.
Windsor, Colorado

Windsor DUI Accident Lawyers Who Know Northern Colorado's Dual-County Crash Hub

Windsor sits in both Weld County and Larimer County, which means a drunk-driver crash here may belong in two different district courts depending on exactly where the collision happened. The criminal case punishes the driver. Your civil claim is the separate legal process that pursues real money for your medical bills, lost income, and everything the crash took from you. CGH Injury Lawyers does not have a Windsor office. We serve Windsor DUI accident victims from our Denver office, know which of the two district courts your claim belongs in, and collect nothing unless we win for you.

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Serving Windsor from our Denver Office CGH Injury Lawyers 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201 Denver, CO 80205 (303) 209-9395 Se habla espanol
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  • Windsor is the only city in our Northern Colorado service area that crosses two county lines: the town is primarily in Weld County, with a portion in Larimer County. That means a Windsor DUI injury lawsuit may be filed in the Weld County District Court (19th Judicial District) in Greeley, or in the Larimer County District Court (8th Judicial District) in Fort Collins, depending on where in town the crash happened. CGH Injury Lawyers does not have a Windsor office. We serve Windsor from our Denver office and we know exactly which courthouse your claim belongs in before we file a single document.
  • Colorado gives you three years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver for injuries caused by a motor vehicle (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)). A dram shop claim against any bar or restaurant that overserved the driver runs on a far shorter clock: the lawsuit must be filed within one year after the alcohol was sold or served (C.R.S. 44-3-801(3)(a)(II)). Do not wait for the criminal case to close before acting on either of those deadlines.
  • Colorado follows modified comparative fault (C.R.S. 13-21-111): you can recover as long as you were less than 50 percent at fault for the crash. If you are found 50 percent or more at fault, you recover nothing. Against an impaired driver, that fault argument rarely holds, but insurers raise it every time on busy corridors like the I-25 and CO-392 interchange and on CO-257 through Windsor's town center.

Windsor sits at one of Northern Colorado's most active I-25 corridor nodes, where Exit 262 connects freeway traffic to CO-392, Windsor's main business artery. The town's 2020 Census population of 32,716 and its status as one of Colorado's fastest-growing municipalities means rising crash exposure on roads that are expanding to keep pace with growth. When a drunk or drugged driver makes that risk a reality on CO-392, CO-257, US-34, or anywhere in Windsor, you face emergency care, mounting bills, and an insurer building its defense from day one. CGH Injury Lawyers pursues the driver, any bar or restaurant that overserved them, and your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage when no one else can pay. We serve Windsor from Denver, and you owe nothing unless we recover for you.

The law that governs your case

Why a DUI driver in Windsor is already presumed at fault: negligence per se

An ordinary crash in Windsor requires you to prove the other driver was careless. A DUI crash is different. Driving while impaired is a violation of a safety law written to protect the public, and that distinction changes what you have to prove in your civil case.

Colorado follows the doctrine of negligence per se. When a person violates a safety statute designed to prevent the kind of harm that occurred, to a person the statute was meant to protect, that violation can itself establish negligence. Drunk and drugged driving laws exist precisely to keep impaired drivers from injuring other people on roads like CO-392 through Windsor, the I-25 corridor at Exit 262, and CO-257 through the town center. An impaired driver who causes a crash fits that doctrine squarely.

In practical terms, you usually do not have to argue about whether the driver did something wrong. The fact of impairment, once established through toxicology results and the arrest record, does most of that work for you. The real fight in a Windsor DUI injury case is almost always about the full value of your harm and which insurance policies are responsible for paying it, not about who caused the crash. That is where we focus from day one.

Two separate cases

The criminal DUI case versus your Windsor civil claim: what each one does

After a DUI crash in Windsor, two completely different legal processes run at the same time. Understanding the split is the first thing most victims need explained, because waiting for one to finish before starting the other is one of the most costly mistakes you can make.

The criminal case

  • Brought by the State of Colorado through the Weld County or Larimer County District Attorney, not by you.
  • The goal is to punish the driver with jail, fines, license consequences, and probation.
  • You are a witness and a victim, not a party who controls the case.
  • A conviction or guilty plea can become powerful evidence in your civil claim, but you cannot afford to wait for it.
  • The court may order restitution, but restitution is limited and is almost never full compensation for your actual losses.

Your civil claim

  • Brought by you against the driver, any overserving bar or restaurant, and any other responsible party.
  • The goal is money to make you whole: medical bills, lost income, pain, suffering, and all your 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.
  • It can proceed whether or not the driver is ever criminally convicted.

The two cases use different standards of proof. The criminal case must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Your civil claim only has to prove fault by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning more likely than not. That is why a driver can sometimes avoid a criminal conviction yet still be fully liable to you in the civil case. We do not wait for the criminal case to finish before protecting your civil rights, and we use any conviction or guilty plea to strengthen your claim once it arrives.

Every source of recovery

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

The impaired driver is the obvious defendant. But in Windsor, where the CO-392 commercial corridor connecting the I-25 interchange to the town center carries bars and restaurants minutes from the highway, the establishment that overserved the driver may share responsibility. And your own insurance may be the real source of recovery when the driver carries little or no coverage.

Dram shop liability: the bar or restaurant

  • 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 who then caused the harm you suffered.
  • The same statute covers serving anyone under 21. A private social host can also face liability under C.R.S. 44-3-801(4) for giving a minor alcohol or a place to consume it.
  • A dram shop recovery is in addition to what you can collect from the driver, giving you a second source of compensation on top of the driver's own policy.
  • The catch is a strict one-year filing deadline: the dram shop lawsuit must be commenced within one year after the alcohol was sold or served (C.R.S. 44-3-801(3)(a)(II)), regardless of when the criminal case ends. Surveillance video and point-of-sale receipts from Windsor venues are overwritten within weeks. Acting fast is not optional.

Your own coverage: UM and UIM

  • If the drunk driver had no insurance, your uninsured motorist (UM) coverage steps into the at-fault driver's shoes and pays your damages directly from your own policy.
  • If the driver carried insurance but not enough to cover your losses, your underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage fills the gap between what their policy pays and what you are owed.
  • Both UM and UIM 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.
  • We check every available policy, including coverage on other vehicles in your household, to make sure no available dollar is left behind.

There is a critical timing trap here. The claim against the driver and any dram shop claim run on different clocks, and the dram shop clock is far shorter. Many families wait for the criminal case to finish before thinking about who else to pursue, and by then the window to sue the bar has often closed. We map every potential defendant and every deadline at the very start of your case.

Compensation

What compensation can you recover after a Windsor DUI crash?

A DUI crash is rarely just a medical bill. Colorado law recognizes two broad categories of compensatory damages, and drunk driving conduct can also open the door to punitive damages that ordinary crashes do not.

Economic damages

  • Emergency care, surgery, and follow-up treatment
  • Future medical and rehabilitation costs
  • Lost wages and lost earning capacity
  • Property damage and out-of-pocket expenses
  • In a fatal crash, funeral costs and the family's financial losses

Non-economic damages

  • Pain and suffering
  • Emotional distress and PTSD, which are common after a violent crash
  • Permanent scarring, disfigurement, and impairment
  • Loss of enjoyment of life

Punitive damages and how the Colorado caps work

  • 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 compensatory damages awarded (C.R.S. 13-21-102), and they require proof of willful and wanton conduct.
  • For compensatory non-economic damages such as pain and suffering, Colorado applies a cap of $1.5 million for claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025 (C.R.S. 13-21-102.5). Lower, inflation-adjusted caps apply to older claims based on when the claim accrued.
  • Economic damages such as medical bills and lost wages are never capped, and compensation for permanent physical impairment or disfigurement is not subject to the non-economic cap either. Those uncapped categories often make up the bulk of a serious DUI injury recovery.

We structure the claim so that no category of harm you suffered is left on the table, and we explain honestly how each cap and source of recovery applies to your specific losses.

How it works

How we handle your Windsor DUI injury case

A Windsor DUI injury claim moves through clear stages, from a free case review to trial when an insurer refuses to be fair. Most cases resolve before a courtroom, but we prepare every case as if it will be tried, whether that means the Weld County District Court in Greeley or the Larimer County District Court in Fort Collins.

  1. Free case review

    We review the crash, your injuries, and every party who may be responsible. We identify which county the crash occurred in, confirm which district court applies (19th Judicial District in Greeley for Weld-side crashes, 8th Judicial District in Fort Collins for Larimer-side crashes), and map every deadline that is running. This costs you nothing.

  2. Investigate and preserve evidence

    We obtain the crash report, the DUI arrest record, toxicology results, and any bar or restaurant video and point-of-sale records before they are overwritten. Camera footage from the I-25 and CO-392 interchange area and along CO-392 through Windsor disappears within weeks.

  3. Coordinate with the criminal case

    We track the criminal prosecution by the Weld County or Larimer County District Attorney, support a well-documented restitution request, and use any conviction or plea as evidence, while keeping your civil claim moving on its own timeline.

  4. Identify every insurance source

    We locate the driver's liability coverage, any dram shop or commercial policy, and your own UM and UIM coverage, then stack them so no available dollar is left behind.

  5. Document the full injury

    We build the complete medical record, coordinating with UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland or UCHealth Greeley Hospital depending on where you were treated, including future care and lost earning capacity, because insurers routinely try to minimize harm they cannot see on an X-ray.

  6. Demand, negotiate, and try the case

    We send a documented demand and negotiate from trial readiness. If an insurer will not be fair, we file in the appropriate Colorado District Court and present your case to a jury in Greeley or Fort Collins.

Deadlines that decide your case

The filing deadlines in a Windsor DUI injury case

A Windsor DUI crash involves several deadlines at once, and they do not all run from the same date. Missing the shortest one can quietly end a claim against a key defendant.

  • The claim against the at-fault driver: Colorado gives you three years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit for injuries arising out of the use or operation of a motor vehicle (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)).
  • A dram shop claim against any Windsor bar or restaurant that overserved the driver: the lawsuit must be commenced within one year after the alcohol was sold or served (C.R.S. 44-3-801(3)(a)(II)). That clock does not pause while the criminal case runs.
  • A UM or UIM claim under your own policy: governed by its 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. Do not assume it matches the deadline against the driver.

Because the deadlines run from different events, the only safe approach is to have a lawyer confirm every clock that applies to your specific Windsor crash as early as possible. Windsor's dual-county character adds one more variable: which county the crash occurred in can affect which court hears the case and which local rules and defense firms apply. We sort that out on day one.

Local knowledge

Windsor courts. Windsor trauma care. Windsor DUI crash corridors.

A Windsor DUI injury case lives in Windsor's geography: the road where the crash happened, the hospital that treated you, and the courthouse where the lawsuit would be filed. Here is the ground we work on for every Windsor DUI client.

Courthouse

Two District Courts: Weld County (19th, Greeley) and Larimer County (8th, Fort Collins)

Windsor is the only city in our Northern Colorado service area that crosses two county lines. The town sits primarily in Weld County, with a portion extending into Larimer County. That boundary matters for DUI injury lawsuits because the county where the crash happened determines which district court hears the case. Weld County claims are filed at the Weld County District Court, 901 9th Ave., Greeley, CO 80631, in Colorado's 19th Judicial District. Larimer County claims are filed at the Larimer County District Court, 201 LaPorte Ave., Fort Collins, CO 80521, in Colorado's 8th Judicial District. These two courts have different jury pools, different local civil procedures, and different defense firms that insurers retain for Northern Front Range cases. Knowing which court applies before a document is filed is not a technicality. It shapes how we build your case, how we pick a jury strategy, and what local evidence matters. CGH Injury Lawyers files and tries cases in both districts directly from our Denver office at no additional cost to Windsor clients. Most cases settle before any lawsuit is filed, but the dual-court reality is part of our preparation from day one.

Trauma Care

UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies (Level I Trauma, Loveland) and UCHealth Greeley Hospital (Level III)

Windsor has no hospital within its town limits. After a serious DUI crash in Windsor, patients are transported to one of two nearby UCHealth facilities depending on the severity of their injuries and their location in town. UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland is Northern Colorado's first and only Level I Trauma Center, providing the highest level of trauma care including full surgical services, 24-hour specialist coverage, and intensive care. UCHealth Greeley Hospital serves the Weld County corridor and provides Level III trauma care, meaning initial stabilization and treatment for a range of injuries before transfer when needed. The distinction matters for your case because Level I trauma activation generates a different and more detailed set of records than a lower-level facility, and those records form the medical foundation of your damages claim. We work with both facilities' records and billing systems from the start, coordinating documentation across every treating provider so your injury picture is complete from the day of the crash through projected future treatment.

High-Risk DUI Corridors

I-25 Exit 262 / CO-392 Interchange, CO-392 (Main Street), CO-257, and US-34

Windsor's crash exposure is anchored at I-25 Exit 262, where Interstate 25 meets Colorado State Highway 392. This interchange is a CDOT-flagged congestion and improvement node, meaning the state has formally identified it as a problem point where freeway-speed traffic mixes with arterial traffic in ways that create collision risk. Impaired drivers navigating between Interstate speed and the CO-392 surface street network at this interchange cannot safely manage merge conflicts and speed transitions, making the interchange a recurring origin zone for serious crash claims. CO-392, locally known as Windsor's Main Street and the primary business corridor connecting the I-25 interchange to the town center, carries the town's highest commercial traffic volume, including the bars and restaurants whose point-of-sale records and surveillance video matter in dram shop claims. CO-257 runs through Windsor's town center and connects to adjacent communities, adding north-south arterial exposure within the town itself. US-34 links Windsor to the Greeley-to-Loveland corridor, providing additional exposure along one of Northern Colorado's busiest east-west routes. The Cache la Poudre River runs through Windsor's west and south edges, adding a geographic boundary that influences how crashes get distributed between the Weld and Larimer County portions of the town. Together these corridors generate the bulk of serious Windsor crash claims we see from the Northern Front Range.

Your team

The Windsor DUI accident team behind your 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. Every Windsor DUI accident case is handled by a licensed Colorado attorney who files and tries cases in both the 19th Judicial District at the Weld County District Court and the 8th Judicial District at the Larimer County District Court, not by a paralegal.

ABOTA member on the team Tim Tarr: Best Lawyers in America since 2023 Over 25 cases to verdict 19th and 8th Judicial District experience Bilingual EN / ES Free consultation No fee unless we win

One thing we tell every Windsor client upfront: CGH Injury Lawyers does not have a Windsor office. We serve Windsor and the surrounding Northern Colorado area from our Denver office at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205. We come to you for meetings when needed, we file in the correct district court for your specific crash location, and we try cases in both Greeley and Fort Collins. What you get is the work and the result, not a storefront on CO-392.

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Frequently asked questions

Windsor DUI accident: frequently asked questions

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

The deadline depends on who you are pursuing. The claim against the at-fault driver must be filed within three years of the crash under Colorado's motor vehicle statute (C.R.S. 13-80-101(1)(n)). A dram shop claim against any Windsor bar or restaurant that overserved the driver runs on a far shorter clock: you must file within one year after the alcohol was sold or served (C.R.S. 44-3-801(3)(a)(II)). A UM or UIM claim under your own policy runs on its own separate deadline under C.R.S. 13-80-107.5. Because these clocks start from different events and can run at the same time, the safest step is to have an attorney confirm every deadline that applies to your specific crash as early as possible.

Windsor is in two counties. Which court handles my DUI injury case?

The county where the crash actually happened determines the court. If the crash occurred in the Weld County portion of Windsor (the larger share of the town), the lawsuit would be filed at the Weld County District Court in Greeley, in Colorado's 19th Judicial District. If it occurred in the Larimer County portion, the lawsuit would go to the Larimer County District Court in Fort Collins, in Colorado's 8th Judicial District. These are two different courthouses, two different jury pools, and two different sets of local defense firms. Identifying the correct county is one of the first things we confirm when we review a Windsor crash, because it shapes the entire case strategy.

Can I sue the bar or restaurant that served the drunk driver in Windsor?

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 served anyone under 21, who then caused the crash. Windsor's CO-392 corridor has bars and restaurants where overservice claims arise. A dram shop recovery is on top of what you can recover from the driver, giving you a second source of compensation. The strict one-year filing deadline under C.R.S. 44-3-801(3)(a)(II) means you cannot wait for the criminal case to finish before investigating.

What if the drunk driver who hit me in Windsor had no insurance?

This situation is common, and it is where your own uninsured motorist (UM) coverage becomes the real source of recovery. If you carry UM coverage, your insurer steps into the at-fault driver's shoes and pays your damages. If the driver had some coverage but not enough, underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage fills the gap. Both types of 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 check every available policy, including coverage on other vehicles in your household, to make sure no available dollar is left behind.

Does Colorado cap what I can recover after a DUI crash in Windsor?

Economic damages such as medical bills, lost wages, and future care costs are never capped under Colorado law. Non-economic damages such as pain and suffering are capped at $1.5 million for claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025 (C.R.S. 13-21-102.5). Compensation for permanent physical impairment or disfigurement is not capped at all, which is why serious DUI injury cases in Windsor often build their core value in those uncapped categories. Punitive damages, when the evidence supports them, are separately governed by C.R.S. 13-21-102 and generally may not exceed your compensatory damages.

CGH does not have a Windsor office. How do you handle my case from Denver?

CGH Injury Lawyers does not have a Windsor office, and we are transparent about that. We serve Windsor from our Denver office at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205. We handle crash scene investigation, evidence preservation, and medical record coordination remotely and in person as needed. When a case proceeds to litigation, we file at the correct court (Weld County in Greeley or Larimer County in Fort Collins) and appear there for hearings and trial. What you are paying for is the legal work and the result. We come to you for client meetings when that is what you need.

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It's More Than Money.

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

Free consultation. No fee unless we win. The dram shop clock is already running. Serving Windsor and all of Northern Colorado from our Denver office. Available in English and Spanish.

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Read next: Colorado DUI accident law: what you need to know statewide

CGH Injury Lawyers · 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205 · Serving Windsor, Weld County, and Larimer County