A passenger is killed in a traffic accident

By PRISCILLA WAGGONER, Courier reporter

ALAMOSA – A 59-year-old woman from Santa Fe, New Mexico, was fatally injured in a traffic accident Friday when the vehicle she was in attempted to pass another vehicle as it made a left turn.

On Friday, October 11, at 3:15 in the afternoon, two vehicles were traveling north on Highway 285 approaching the intersection with Rio Grande County Road 6N. The first vehicle in front, driven by a Monte Vista resident, slowed and turned left onto CR 6N. The second vehicle, whose occupants were from Santa Fe, attempted to overtake the first vehicle on the left.

According to Capt. Nathan Lyons of the Colorado State Patrol, the second vehicle struck the rear of the first vehicle and lost control, spun and went off the east side of Highway 285, where it then struck a fence, rolled twice and came to a stop came to rest on its wheels.

The vehicle in front came to a controlled stop on the side of the road. The driver, an unidentified 80-year-old man from Monte Vista, was uninjured in the accident.

The passenger in the second vehicle was killed and the driver, a 60-year-old man from Santa Fe, suffered serious injuries. Neither name is being released by the Colorado State Patrol.

Captain Lyons confirmed that everyone was wearing a seatbelt. “There was no excessive speed, no impairment in this accident,” he said. While he made it clear that he did not interview anyone or investigate the accident, Lyons suspects that the driver in the second vehicle did not expect the driver in front of him to turn. “That happens a lot down here.”