Families of Colorado Jeep tour crash victims claim the company employed the driver ‘despite known problems’
The September 2022 car accident happened along the narrow and rugged Camp Bird Road near Ouray, Colorado. That morning, 72-year-old Don Fehd was behind the wheel of a Jeep Gladiator, driving two tourists, Diana Robles (28) and her aunt, Ofelia Perez (60), back from a scenic trip to Yankee Boy Basin. Tragically, the trio would not return from the tour.
The Jeep veered off the side of the cliff and plummeted roughly 260 feet to the canyon floor.
Fehd landed outside the vehicle. Robles and Perez, who were buckled in, remained inside. All three died.
Attorneys for the victims’ families say the company didn’t originally schedule Fehd to drive the Jeep that day
A last-minute text exchange between Fehd and one of the company’s owners showed he was called in after another driver failed to show up. He replied that he was getting dressed and heading over.
The day after the accident, a crew recovered the mangled Jeep using a crane…and a delayed post-mortem blood draw raised a red flag.
The lawsuit points to Fehd’s blood-alcohol level, which measured 0.027% after his death
While that’s well under Colorado’s legal limit of 0.08%, the plaintiffs argue the real number may have been much higher at the time of the Jeep crash. They cite a delay in preserving Fehd’s body as a factor that may have skewed the BAC reading.
Data from Fehd’s phone also showed he was in contact with members of an Alcoholics Anonymous group in Austin, Texas, that same morning. He previously lived there before moving to Colorado in 2002, CBS News shared.
The families believe this is more evidence that the company, Colorado West Jeep Rentals and Tours of Ouray, knew about Fehd’s drinking history
They say management should not have sent him out with passengers. The tour company denied wrongdoing.
A Colorado State Patrol report noted no signs of speeding or reckless driving. However, the lawsuit claims that Fehd drove straight off the road without braking or trying to avoid the drop.
It’s a shocking thought. Especially considering Fehd also volunteered for the Ouray Mountain Rescue Team. The group confirmed his work with them, including that he also drove for them.
The civil case is unfolding in federal court in Denver, with both sides exchanging evidence over the coming year.
