What is up with pedestrians being hit by cars in Denver?!?! (crime, neighborhoods)

[skins_fan82]

Two kids hit by cars in two separate incidents yesterday morning on their way to school (though one of the kids jaywalked). Somebody got hit last week, a woman was killed about a month ago on near, maybe 2-3 months ago a middle-eastern student at DU was killed near campus.

I swear, it seems like one person gets hit and critically injured every week in and around downtown Denver. Crossing the street around here seems to be a matter of life and death.

I've lived other big cities before and have never heard of so many pedestrians being hit by cars, often times leading to a fatality.

What gives man?!

[robertgoodman]

I am assuming you are from DC. The last decade 2000-2010 DC averaged 14.4 Pedestrian fatalities per year in just the district alone. In 2010 (last year stats were readily available) the district had 24 pedestrian fatalities and Prince George's county had 19. There's generally 15 injuries to every 1 death when a pedestrian gets hit by a car.

IMO the difference may be in the reporting. Larger cities have other things going on that may be more newsworthy. Just like people killed in automobile vs automobile accidents rarely get reported here, and it happens quite frequently.

[davebarnes]

2010 data, but interesting
GOOD.is | Infographic: Transparency: The Most Dangerous Cities for Walking

More interesting data from 2011
Mapping Traffic Fatalities Across the Country - Commute - The Atlantic Cities

Easy to read paper
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811625.pdf
Colorado is 1/3 the rate per D.C.

[ELCO5280]

Cell phones. I can usually tell when someone is on their phone or texting. Lanes, crosswalks and pedestrians are less important then their convo or Tweet.

[strawberrykiki]

I'm glad you started this thread. I walk to work and I seriously feel I'm taking my life into my own hands sometimes. There have been numerous times when I would have been hit if I hadn't been paying attention even though I had the walk. Denver is a big enough city with enough people walking around that I always try to be mindful when I'm driving. I notice most people are yapping away on their phone or texting, so no wonder there are accidents with so many distracted drivers. Plus everyone seems to be in such a hurry they aren't paying any attention, they just want to go go go as fast as they can.

People seem pretty friendly here out and about, but they are incredibly rude and agressive drivers in my opinion. It's like they undergo a personality transplant behind the wheel. I see people cut each other off, honk the horn, flip the bird, and even roll down their window to yell at other drivers or pedestrians. Maybe all the sprawl and extra traffic everywhere you go has made people impatient and cranky when they're driving.

[cowboyxjon]

People tend to not stop at red lights -- but also, I notice A LOT of jaywalking, especially in the Denver neighborhoods closer to downtown, like Capitol Hill.

[zoonik]

Two things: Like earlier posters have stated, other cities likely have more "hard news" and crime to report every day in the news, so auto pedestrian accidents don't likely make it to the nightly news like they do here.

2nd: Although there has been major improvement in the downtown core, much of the metro area remains very car centric and is designed for vehicles more-so than pedestrians. When you drive in places like NYC, DC, Boston, you are very cognizant of pedestrians simply because they are everywhere walking around. If anything, I feel like Denver area people are more aware of cyclists than pedestrians due to the sheer volume of them, which is relatively unique trait compared to other cities.

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by ELCO5280

Cell phones. I can usually tell when someone is on their phone or texting. Lanes, crosswalks and pedestrians are less important then their convo or Tweet.

Examine the data.
Hong Kong has many fewer traffic deaths. I can assure you that they are "on their phones".
Data are your friends.

[woob]

Denver Public Works and CDOT are fixated on keeping traffic moving as quickly as possible. This comes at the expense of the safety of anybody not in a car. Pedestrians and bicyclists are left to fend for themselves. This is changing in other cities (see the proliferation of protected bike lanes in nyc and chicago) but denver is behind the ball.

[BarryK123]

The number of hit and runs is outrageous here (Dave, any comparison stats?) Penalties need to be much more severe.