A law put in place in Colorado earlier this year is about to get one of its first winter weather tests as a strong storm gears up to hit parts of the I-70 corridor hard. It puts the onus on rental car customers to ensure that the cars they are renting are capable of handling mountain snow and ice conditions. It means two-wheel drive rentals in the high country just won’t cut it.
“Just like skiing, you’ve got to be familiar with the terrain,” said Matt Lovato, who lives in Dumont and partners in the running of a ski rental shop in Idaho Springs. “It’s a hard thing. Don’t go on black (ski runs) if you’re not ready, you know?”
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It means car rental agencies have to inform people.
“The rental agency is required to tell you whether or not that car complies with the new law. And compliance is pretty simple. All passenger vehicles need to be all-wheel drive or four-wheel drive if they’re going to traverse I-70 between the Dotsero and Morrison exits between September and May,” said AAA’s regional director of public affairs Skyler McKinley.
On Tuesday, CDOT and the Colorado State Patrol together held a news conference in Georgetown to talk about new winter driving requirements.
“Even if you have a four wheel drive vehicle you’ve got to have the required type of tire and the proper tread depth, or you got to have chains to go along with that,” said State Patrol Lt. Colonel Josh Downing.
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“If they’re not four-wheel drive or all wheel drive then they have to carry chains or alternate traction devices,” said McKinley. “And the driver has to put those on when it’s called for on that corridor.”
That messaging must come in writing or verbally to clearly let the renter know what’s expected, but once informed, it’s up to the renter to ensure the vehicle is properly equipped.
“I think there’s going to be some frustration in the system, but it’s just going to be a question of where and how and how we resolve it,” said McKinley.
In time, he believes rental car companies will come under pressure to make sure that the right vehicles are available.
“I suspect the market pressures will weigh on the rental cars, rental fleets keeping specific fleets in Colorado that are right for Colorado,” he said.
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Inquiries with several car rental companies Tuesday evening did not bring replies.
But for renters, it will mean knowing what’s expected.
“Not everybody reads the laws when you come up to vacation somewhere, you know,” said Matt Lovato.
Police in Northern Colorado are investigating after a crash involving multiple vehicles claimed the life of a pedestrian.
The Greeley Police Department received reports of a crash at the 5500 block of Highway 34 around 5:50 p.m. on Monday. When officers arrived, they discovered that two vehicles were involved in a crash with a 19-year-old woman who attempted to walk across the highway.
Police said there was no crosswalk in the area, and she was struck by the driver’s side of a Chevrolet Blazer. The impact knocked the woman into the inside lane, where she was struck by a Chevrolet Traverse. A witness told officers they saw the woman crossing the roadway ‘as traffic arrived at her location.’
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First responders attempted life-saving measures on the woman at the scene before she was taken to North Colorado Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. GPD said the Weld County Coroner’s Office will release her identity at a later time.
Neither driver involved was injured in the crash. Police said they don’t expect charges to be filed against those drivers at the moment, but the case remains under investigation. The police department asked anyone with information on the crash to contact Officer Ed Kubala at Edward.Kubala@greeleypd.com.
Colorado’s best ski deal? Maybe one that costs nothing at all. At Steamboat Springs’ Howelsen Hill, “Sunday Funday is taken to an entirely new level,” reads the city webpage for Ski Free Sundays. Yes, on Sundays throughout the season, visitors need only to walk into the ticket office to grab a pass at no charge. […]
While Colorado ranks near the middle of U.S. states for carbon emissions per capita, it still produces enough CO2 per person to rival countries on the World Bank’s list of top emitters internationally.
In 2023, Colorado produced 13.9 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per capita. If it had been ranked by the World Bank during the same year, Colorado would have placed 14th among the more than 200 countries on the list, just behind Canada, at 14.1, and just ahead of the U.S. as a whole, at 13.7.
Among U.S. states, Colorado ranked 26th in carbon emissions per capita. Wyoming had the highest per capita emissions in the country, at 92.9 metric tons, while Maryland had the lowest, at 7.8.
Most of Colorado’s emissions come from energy production and consumption, primarily natural gas and oil production and electric power production and consumption.
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The Colorado Sun partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.
Sources
References:
Colorado State Energy Profile, U.S. Energy Information Administration, accessed in December 2025. Source link
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2023 Colorado Statewide Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, pg. 128, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, November 2024. Source link
Senate Bill 24-230 Oil and Gas Production Fees, Colorado General Assembly, accessed in December, 2025. Source link
Senate Bill 23-016 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Measures, Colorado General Assembly, accessed in December 2025. Source link
Carbon dioxide emissions, World Bank Group, 2024, accessed in December 2025. Source link
Energy-related CO2 emission data tables, U.S. Energy Information Administration, accessed in December 2025. Source link
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Type of Story: Fact-Check
Checks a specific statement or set of statements asserted as fact.
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Cassis Tingley is a Denver-based freelance journalist. She’s spent the last three years covering topics ranging from political organizing and death doulas in the Denver community to academic freedom and administrative accountability at the…
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