Colorado lawmakers consider bill expanding criminally negligent homicide to include vehicular homicide

Some state lawmakers want more accountability for reckless drivers who kill people.

Right now, many of those drivers are charged with a misdemeanor and receive probation, even as the number fatalities in Colorado increases.

According to the Colorado Department of Transportation, over the last 10 years, fatalities have increased 31% — from 547 in 2015 to 706 in 2025. Bicyclist and pedestrian fatalities have increased 91% — from 78 in 2015 to 149 in 2025.

Colorado state Sens. John Carson (R) and Marc Snyder (D) introduced a bill aimed at reducing fatalities by creating harsher penalties.

While district attorneys can charge some drivers with a felony, the Colorado District Attorneys' Council says, with the way the law is written, it is very difficult to prove, so many cases are charged as misdemeanors.

The bill defines vehicular homicide more clearly and expands the crime of criminally negligent homicide, a felony, to include vehicular homicide. It also makes vehicular homicide a crime of violence, which would mean prison time.

"It's going to send a message to the judges and the community that these crimes need be taken very seriously," Carson told CBS Colorado.  

The families of Coloradans killed by reckless drivers told the Senate Judiciary Committee they are serving a life sentence.

"There is something deeply broken in the system where a life and consequences don't reflect the magnitude of that loss," said Kristallynn Garcia, whose dad was killed by a reckless driver. She says the driver received probation.  

Michael and Jill White's son was also killed by a reckless driver. Jill says the woman was moved to a halfway house after just a few months in prison.

"I just didn't understand," Jill said before the committee. "The judge said four years. We got five months." 

"Broke his pelvis, broke his collarbone and shattered his skull so badly he was unrecognizable," Michael said before the committee. "That is violence, and I'm asking this committee to treat it as such." 

State fiscal analysts estimated nearly 240 drivers would go to prison each year if the bill passed, which they say would increase costs for the state by nearly $16 million a year.

Teri Vogel said she and her husband Chuck, who was killed by a reckless driver, have paid a much higher price.

"My best friend, my husband 41 years, my partner in life," Vogel said before the committee. 

The committee ultimately amended the bill to remove vehicular homicide as a crime of violence.  Under the amended bill, district attorneys can still charge drivers with a felony, but it will be probation eligible.

The Colorado District Attorneys' Council says lawmakers had to make an economic decision instead of a public safety decision.

The bill also allows district attorneys to charge drivers, who are on their cellphone when they kill someone, with a felony.  Right now, they can only be charged with a misdemeanor.  The bill passed the judiciary committee unanimously.

The legislature has debated different iterations of the bill six times over last 10 years and all failed.