A stretch of Interstate 70 near Rifle, Colorado became the scene of a violent three-vehicle wreck early Sunday morning after a driver ended up going eastbound in the westbound lanes. The crash killed 17-year-old Kyle McKinney of Glenwood Springs and 18-year-old Reese Allen of Silt.
Investigators with the Colorado State Patrol responded to mile marker 93 around 2:36 a.m. Official reports show a blue 2022 Subaru was traveling the wrong way in the left westbound lane. It was moving fast toward oncoming traffic at a time when night visibility gave drivers almost no time to react.
At that exact moment, an orange 2026 Peterbilt semi-truck driven by a 35-year-old man was rolling westbound in the right lane. Reese Allen was driving a gray 2004 GMC Yukon in the left lane, trying to pass the semi-truck.
The Yukon had nowhere to go. Positioned right next to the semi-truck on its right, the SUV collided head-on with the oncoming wrong-way Subaru. The force of the wreck scattered car parts across the highway, shutting down the westbound lanes for hours.
First responders arrived to find both teenagers in the Yukon fatally injured. Representatives from the Garfield County Coroner’s Office arrived shortly after and pronounced both McKinney and Allen dead at the scene.
State troopers note that wrong-way interstate crashes are among the most dangerous incidents on the road. They usually happen in the early hours when traffic is light, giving drivers almost no room to swerve out of danger when headlights suddenly appear straight ahead.
The investigation into how the Subaru entered the wrong side of Interstate 70 remains open. Meanwhile, news of the accident has shaken communities across Garfield County, where friends and neighbors in Glenwood Springs and Silt are coming together to support the families.
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