DENVER — Two fatal auto-pedestrian crashes in the past two days – one in Thornton and one in Centennial – add to a troubling trend in Colorado, where people on foot have died in greater numbers on the state’s roadways for four consecutive years.
Both crashes had a common theme: They occurred before daybreak.
“Most pedestrians are killed in the dark, when they're difficult to see – when it's difficult for drivers to see, and when it's difficult for pedestrians themselves to see what's going on around them,” said Sam Cole, traffic safety manager at the Colorado Department of Transportation.
The death Sunday along East 120th Avenue in Thornton was a hit-and-run. Investigators are looking for a gray car with front-end damage, said Thornton Police spokesman Joe Walker.
In Monday’s fatal crash, the driver hit a man experiencing homelessness who was pushing a shopping cart across Arapahoe Road. That driver stayed on the scene and is cooperating with investigators, said Ginger Delgado, spokeswoman for the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office.
“While the number of impaired driver deaths is coming down and the number of people not buckling up is coming down, the one thing that continues to increase are pedestrian deaths,” Cole said.
The number of pedestrian fatalities on the state’s roads set a record in 2020 when 93 people died.
That number crept up to 94 in 2021, then jumped to 115 in 2022.
Last year, it shot up to 136 and represented 19% of all traffic fatalities in the state. That’s nearly one of every five deaths.
This year hasn’t started much better. The 17 auto-pedestrian fatalities in January and February accounted for 24% of all traffic deaths in the state for those two months.
Cole said a number of factors come into play, including the proliferation of larger vehicles such as pickup trucks and SUVs and a marked increase in reckless driving seen since the COVID pandemic began in 2020.
While work is underway to redesign roads and make other changes to make them safer for people on foot – such as adding new stripes, lights and crosswalks – that won’t happen quickly.
“Those projects take time,” Cole said. “What doesn’t take time is changing your behavior as a driver. That means driving slower, being more alert, staying off your phone and never driving impaired.”
It’s not just on people behind the wheel to bear responsibility.
“I think also there needs to be a message to pedestrians out there. You know, our roadways can be dangerous,” Cole said. “That's why pedestrians also have to be incredibly aware of what's going on around them.”
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