Slick roads and an attempted roadside tow combined to cause a three-car crash that injured one person about 5 p.m. Monday on South Broadway in Cortez.
A southbound black Mustang slid off the road and into the west-side ditch in front of 4X4 Auto Sales. A truck driver arrived to try to tow the car out, but was blocking the southbound lane on the highway, said Sgt. Dave Allmon of the Cortez Police Department.
Then, a southbound passenger car was unable to avoid the pickup and crashed into it, pushing the pickup into the back of the Mustang, and hitting a man standing between the two vehicles. He was transported to Southwest Memorial Hospital, Allmon said, and his condition was not available.
After hitting the pickup, the southbound car spun out across the road and came to a rest on the east-side shoulder.
The pickup driver was given a summons for blocking the lane, Allmon said. He emphasized that the Mustang and pickup driver should have contacted a professional tow truck to handle the situation.
The driver of the passenger car that crashed into the pickup was cited for not having a license.
Traffic was delayed for about a half-hour while first responders attended to crash victims and removed vehicles off the road. Southbound traffic was diverted onto a frontage road.
The Cortez Police Department, Southwest Health System Ambulance, Cortez Fire Protection District and Colorado Department of Transportation responded to the incident.
