The driver who died after rolling his car off the Million Dollar Highway and down a mountain last month had nearly 40 times the legal limit of marijuana in his system, according to a toxicology report released Wednesday.
Louis Michael, 42, died from blunt-force injuries to the neck, according to his autopsy report released by Ouray County officials. His passenger, 79-year-old Leoba Valdez, also died from blunt-force injuries — including a brain bleed and fractures to the skull, ribs, arms and legs.
When he died, Michael had roughly 192 nanograms per milliliter of Delta 9 THC in his blood, the report stated. The legal limit in Colorado for driving is less than five nanograms per milliliter, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.
That puts the amount of marijuana in Michael’s system at 38.4 times the legal limit.
Michael was reversing a Honda Civic in the westbound lane of U.S. 550 on Red Mountain Pass, also known as the Million Dollar Highway, when the right rear tire went over the edge of the road, Colorado State Patrol spokesperson Gabriel Moltrer said.
The Honda Civic continued off the cliff and rolled roughly 400 feet down the mountain. It came to rest upside down in Red Mountain Creek, Moltrer said.
The crash happened at about 8 a.m. on Aug. 5, near mile marker 88 on westbound U.S. 550. There are no guardrails along the edge of the highway.
Both Michael and Valdez were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash. Valdez had no drugs in her system, according to her autopsy report.
State patrol officials said an unidentified girl was trapped inside the car with both adults for more than two hours before emergency crews were able to rappel down the mountain and rescue her. She was taken to the hospital with unknown injuries.
Drivers can be arrested and cited for impaired driving if law enforcement observes driver impairment to any degree, even with a blood level of Delta 9 THC below five nanograms per milliliter, according to the state transportation department.
However, five nanograms per milliliter is the legal limit that gives rise to a “permissible inference” that the person is under the influence of cannabis, according to the department.
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