Mother, 9-year-old daughter killed in Ault crash

A Greeley mother and her 9-year-old daughter died in a Monday night crash near Ault that also injured one man.

Brandy Yates, 33, and Paradise Yates died on the scene of the pickup vs. semitrailer crash at Colorado Highway 14 and Weld County Road 31. Brandy was pregnant at the time of the crash, Weld County Coroner Mark Ward said Tuesday afternoon.

Devin Robbins, a 24-year-old Greeley man, also in the pickup, was airlifted to North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley with serious injuries, Colorado State Patrol Trooper Nate Reid said.

The crash happened shortly after 5 p.m., when the driver of the white Dodge Ram failed to yield to an 18-wheeler hauling logs east on Colorado 14, CSP Trooper Ben Simpson said. The semitrailer struck the driver's side of the pickup, which was headed north on WCR 31.

Matthew Crockett, 33, driver of the semitrailer, was hauling the logs from Utah to Eaton. The Logan, Utah, resident had minor injuries and refused treatment.

Robbins was in "fair condition" Tuesday morning, according to Banner Health spokeswoman Sara Quale.

Since September 2007, there have been nine crashes at the rural intersection, according to data from the Colorado Department of Transportation. A total of five people have died at the location, and at least four have reported injuries. Further, the 1-mile stretch of Colorado 14 road where the WCR 31 intersection is located also has a history of deadly wrecks, according to CSP data. Eight fatal crashes occurred in that area during the past five years — half of them this year.

After the last fatality at the intersection, CDOT increased the size of the stop sign to 36 inches and soon will replace it with a flashing stop sign, said CDOT spokeswoman Amy Ford. CDOT plans to evaluate the intersection and surrounding area to see if stop lights or infrastructure changes are needed to increase driver safety, Ford said, but added that she's unsure if the evaluation will even begin within the next two years.

"I don't know if it's a design issue. It's an intersection controlled by two stop signs," Reid said. "We can't put a street light on every county road. We have to take some accountability in our driving ability and watch for traffic and make appropriate decisions."

"I think one is too many fatal crashes anywhere," he added.

Windsor Beacon reporter Adrian D. Garcia can be reached at (970) 224-7835 or Twitter.com/adriandgarcia.