The airplane was a Cessna 210 and the couple flying it were returning to Casper, WY. Both are seriously injured with burns and broken bones and were flown to Denver for further treatment.
I don't know how the crash developed. Witnesses heard the engine failing. The decision to land on the highway had pluses and minus's. A big minus is there was a lot of Sunday traffic on the highway with people out to see the fall colors and so there were a lot of cars to dodge. I didn't see any skid marks at the crash site. I suspect he stalled it and spun in from low altitude probably because of cars in the way. The plus is that there were people there immediately to pull them from the wreckage and there was even a nurse present who was able to start treating them.
There are plenty of meadows around to put an airplane into. Not much of it is level and smooth so the outcome of a landing there isn't certain. And there probably wouldn't be anybody around to help. But there aren't a bunch of cars in the way either and the pilot should be able to do as Bob Hoover recommended and fly it through the crash.