DENVER - An Ohio woman is suing Estes Park Shuttle for negligence.
An Ohio woman is suing the same company that was involved in a deadly Interstate 25 crash near Firestone last Tuesday.
During that crash, an Estes Park Shuttle van at about 8:30 a.m. struck a sedan, went into the median and rolled at least once, according to Colorado State Patrol.
Rosalie Vail told 9NEWS she was seriously hurt in a September 2017 incident when her van driver slammed on the brakes while on its way to Estes Park.
Vail said her neck, nose and teeth were broken.
“Broken lip, all down in here,” she said. “I mean, it was busted open. This cute doctor at the emergency room sewed it up.”
“As he was driving on, I looked up, I saw the break lights on the car in front of us,” Vail added. “I said, ‘Look out!’ … That's when he slammed on the brakes. I was in the middle seat, right behind the driver and the passenger … . I slid up forward and my face landed into his dash, middle dash at that.”
Andrew Phillips, an associate attorney at Lavine Law and the lawyer representing Vail in the case said the case is about holding a company accountable for their drivers and making sure they’re safe.
“We want to make sure that all drivers of these shuttle vans, they're trained to be doing this,” Phillips said. “These shuttle vans are different from an Uber driver. For instance, the seat belt situation is completely different. You have a back row where there is a lot of space; sometimes there's seat belts, sometimes there's not."
Phillips added that there are no signs in the vans stating the need to put on a seatbelt.
“We want to make sure that these drivers, that they have protocols in place to make sure that they're riders are safe,” he said.
AA CSP spokesperson said investigators are still trying to figure out who caused the deadly collision.
CSP also said per Colorado law, the driver, the front seat passenger and children 17 and under are required to wear a seat belt in a 15-passenger van. But adults sitting in the back do not have to be restrained.
Vail told 9NEWS she wasn’t wearing a seat belt.
“(I) did not lay eyes on a seat belt,” she said.
Vail said she spent three weeks in ICU and one more week in physical therapy.Her teeth got fixed last week, but she said she’s still in pain.
She told 9NEWS she wanted Estes Park Shuttle to pay her medical bills and additional damages for “pain and aggravation.”
“I'm still not fully recovered,” she said.
9NEWS has reached out to Estes Park Shuttle. The company referred us to an attorney. He has not returned 9NEWS messages for comment.
The public utility commission told 9NEWS the company didn't have any consumer complaints in the last six months and has not been investigated.
