Car Accident Lawyers Serving the Entire Roaring Fork Valley

CAR ACCIDENT LAWYERS · ROARING FORK VALLEY · HIGHWAY 82 CORRIDOR

When a serious crash happens on Highway 82, the road doesn’t care which town you live in. Neither do we.

Howry Breen & Herman, LLP represents seriously injured victims and families from Glenwood Springs to Aspen — every community along Colorado’s most dangerous mountain corridor. Our office in Snowmass Village puts us in the valley, close to our clients and familiar with the road conditions, intersections, and local circumstances that define these cases.

Schedule a free consultation with our Roaring Fork Valley car accident lawyers today.

Highway 82: The Corridor Behind the Crashes

No road in Colorado concentrates as many risks into 47 miles as Highway 82. From the I-70 interchange in Glenwood Springs through Carbondale, Basalt, El Jebel, and Snowmass Village to downtown Aspen, it is the sole artery connecting the entire Roaring Fork Valley. There is no alternate route.

The result is a road that handles everything at once: high-speed commuter traffic, seasonal ski congestion, commercial trucks, cyclists, pedestrians, rental cars, and wildlife — in all weather conditions, year-round. When something goes wrong, the consequences are severe.

Highway 82 sees crashes across the full length of the corridor, not just in Aspen. Some of the valley’s most dangerous stretches are in Garfield County, around Carbondale, and in the commercial strips near Basalt and El Jebel — areas that rarely make the headlines but generate serious injuries with alarming regularity.

What Makes This Road Uniquely Dangerous

• No detour — the entire valley funnels through a single corridor. When traffic backs up or closures occur, dangerous passing and rear-end pileups multiply.
• Canyon narrows and blind curves — between Glenwood Canyon and Carbondale, the road pinches tight with limited sight distances and no margin for error.
• Rapid weather changes — black ice, snowfall, and fog can develop within minutes, often before CDOT has treated the road surface.
• Pedestrians and cyclists — the Rio Grande Trail parallels much of the corridor; intersections at Basalt, El Jebel, and Carbondale see frequent pedestrian and cyclist conflicts with through traffic.
• Unfamiliar drivers — resort-season visitors, rental car operators, and shuttle drivers navigating mountain conditions they’ve never encountered before.
• Commercial and construction vehicles — heavy trucks slow to a crawl on grades while commuter and ski traffic stacks behind them.
• Wildlife crossings — after-dark deer and elk crossings are routine throughout the valley floor; emergency avoidance maneuvers frequently cause secondary crashes.

We Serve Every Community Along the Corridor

Our practice is not limited to Aspen. We handle motor vehicle accident cases for injured clients throughout Pitkin and Garfield counties, including:

• Glenwood Springs — Garfield County’s largest city, where CO-82 exits I-70. Heavy truck traffic, the Glenwood Canyon approach, and the Grand Avenue bridge intersection are frequent crash sites.
• Carbondale — a growing community where the four-lane section narrows near Highway 133. The Crystal River roundabout and Main Street intersections see year-round congestion and pedestrian conflict.
• El Jebel and Basalt — a dense commercial strip with left-turn conflicts, cyclist crossings, and a dangerous mismatch between high through-traffic speeds and local turning movements.
• Willits and Emma — a rural segment with wide shoulders, limited lighting, high posted speeds, and significant bicycle and pedestrian use after dark.
• Snowmass Village and Brush Creek — the Brush Creek roundabout handles heavy ski traffic with poor sightlines; the Owl Creek Road intersection has a documented history of serious collisions.
• Aspen — the S-curves approaching downtown channel high-speed traffic into a pedestrian-heavy grid; impaired driving incidents spike sharply during resort season.

Types of Cases We Handle

Our attorneys handle the full range of motor vehicle injury claims along the Highway 82 corridor and throughout the Roaring Fork Valley:

• Rear-end and intersection collisions
• Head-on and high-speed crashes, including on the narrow two-lane segments between Carbondale and Aspen
• Drunk or drug-impaired driving accidents
• Distracted driving and texting-related crashes
• Pedestrian and bicycle collisions
• Multi-vehicle pileups during winter weather
• Accidents involving rideshare vehicles, rental cars, commercial trucks, and resort shuttles
• Wrongful death cases arising from fatal crashes on the corridor

We investigate each case thoroughly — police reports, vehicle data recorders, CDOT maintenance records, road condition logs, weather data, and eyewitness testimony — to build the strongest possible case for every client.

Award-Winning Trial Experience

Insurance companies assign experienced adjusters and defense lawyers the moment a serious crash is reported. Having proven trial counsel on your side from the start changes the outcome. Our attorneys bring decades of real courtroom experience — not just negotiating experience — to every case.

Sean Breen

100+ jury trials.  Hall of Fame Verdicts and Settlments. Best Lawyers in America® 2025 — Personal Injury Litigation, Commercial Litigation, and Construction Law. Lawyer of the Year, Austin, Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs (2020). Super Lawyers® every year since 2004. Texas Verdicts Hall of Fame (2011, 2016, 2020). Top 10 Motor Vehicle Accident Settlements in Texas, California and Colorado. Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. National Top 100 Trial Lawyers.

Randy Howry

100+ jury trials.  Best Lawyers in America® since 2006, with recognition for Bet-the-Company Litigation (2009) and Commercial Litigation (2006). AV Preeminent® rating from Martindale-Hubbell® since 2018. Texas Super Lawyers® 2003–2026. Top American Lawyers since 2017.

Scott DeShazo

50+ jury trials to verdict with record-setting results. Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law — a distinction held by fewer than 10% of Texas lawyers. Elected to the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) in 2013. Texas Super Lawyers®. Prior to rejoining the firm as Partner, founded DeShazo & Nesbitt (2007–2024). Admitted to all four U.S. District Courts in Texas and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Why Experience Matters After a Serious Crash

Insurers move fast. Their goal after a major crash is to contain their exposure — not to make sure you are fully compensated. They will investigate the accident, assess your injuries, and often reach out with a settlement offer before you fully understand what your case is worth.

Our attorneys have spent decades on the plaintiff’s side of high-value injury cases. We know how insurers evaluate claims, where they undercount damages, and when a case deserves to go to trial. That knowledge — backed by a record of actual courtroom results — is what levels the playing field.

Whether your accident happened in Glenwood Springs, Carbondale, Basalt, Snowmass Village, or Aspen, the firm’s trial experience and local presence across the Roaring Fork Valley means you have serious representation from day one.

Contact Our Roaring Fork Valley Car Accident Lawyers

A serious crash on Highway 82 can upend everything — your health, your work, your family’s financial stability. Our attorneys have the experience and the record to fight for what you actually deserve, not just what the insurance company is willing to pay.

Howry Breen & Herman, LLP is recognized by Best Lawyers in America®, Super Lawyers®, and other leading national legal directories. We offer free consultations with no obligation, and we work on a contingency fee basis — no recovery, no fee.

Local office: Snowmass Center, 16 Kearns Road, Suite 301F, Snowmass Village, CO 81615
Phone: (512) 430-4844
Email: sbreen@howrybreen.com

Contact us today for a free consultation. We serve the entire Roaring Fork Valley — Glenwood Springs to Aspen and every community in between.

Serving Pitkin, Eagle and Garfield counties and the full Highway 82 corridor. Contingency fee representation — no recovery, no fee.