Audit: Unlicensed drivers big problem in Colorado

DENVER • A state audit estimates that as many as 225,000 people are driving illegally in Colorado and that unlicensed drivers were involved in nearly one-fourth of all fatal crashes last year.

Legislators requested the audit after an unlicensed driver in the country illegally was accused of causing an accident last year that killed three people in Aurora, including a 3-year-old in an ice cream shop.

Drivers without valid licenses were involved in 24 percent of last year's fatal crashes. There were 548 people who died in traffic accidents and 130 of those died in crashes involving unlicensed drivers.

The auditors say strategies used by other states include impounding vehicles and putting special stickers on car that have been driven by people without valid licenses.