Sterling crash sends chicken trailer into ditch near I-76 corridor

Emergency crews were called to the area near the Best Western by Eagle 2 in Sterling before dawn after a pickup truck towing a trailer full of chickens left the roadway and landed in a ditch near the Interstate 76 corridor. Sterling police said officers were dispatched at about 3:53 a.m., and no serious injuries were reported.

Police said the driver briefly looked away from the road while trying to locate a gas station off the interstate, and that distraction appeared to be the immediate cause of the crash. The scene did not lead to a wider roadway closure or follow-up enforcement action, but it still required officers and emergency crews to secure the area, check the vehicle, and deal with the livestock load.

The crash stood out in a city where local traffic, travelers and commercial vehicles all mix around the interstate exits. Sterling had a population of 13,735 in the 2020 census, and Logan County’s population was 21,528 in the 2020 count and an estimated 20,654 on July 1, 2025. In a community that size, even a single run-off-road wreck near a major travel corridor can ripple through the morning commute and draw attention because of the unusual cargo.

The incident also fit a broader road-safety pattern that state and federal transportation officials have been tracking. Colorado State Patrol said troopers investigated 268 fatal and serious-injury crashes involving a distracted driver in 2024, and driver fatigue ranked among the top human factors in those cases. Troopers also issued 13,252 citations last year for improper, reckless or careless driving.

The Federal Highway Administration says roadway-departure crashes account for more than half of fatal roadway crashes each year in the United States, and says rumble strips and stripes are designed to alert distracted, drowsy or inattentive drivers who drift from their lane. Colorado Department of Transportation crash dashboards are preliminary and subject to change, but the Sterling wreck serves as a reminder that a quick glance away from the pavement can turn an ordinary trip into a ditch-side cleanup involving people, vehicles and animals.