What is up with pedestrians being hit by cars in Denver?!?! (Glendale: luxury, living in)

[robertgoodman]

I am all for protected bike lanes but they have absolutely nothing to do with Pedestrians being hit by cars. Denver's implementation of biking facilities has been, and continues to be half-assed to the point where we have to question whether or not the city is even taking it seriously.

As far as road diets, living streets, red crosswalks, and other things done in the name of improving pedestrian safety we are not behind the curve at all. Yes car throughput has been maximized on certain corridors in Denver, but that is true in Chicago, NYC, and even in the darling of urban planning Portland.

But I am in agreement that the ONLY thing that can really prevent this is to slow down cars universally within the city. Road diets do that to an extent, but there are just some corridors in every city where they just cannot do that. Prior to the invention of jaywalking there was an attempt to put governors on cars in the city so they could go no greater than 25 mph, and that would probably stop most of the deaths. However, societal norms today, and subsequent sprawl patterns (throughout the US) would never allow such a thing. Until those things change Denver is just going to do half measures in the name of pedestrian safety like even the coastal cities are doing.

(BTW just last year Colorado moved hit and runs up to a class 4 felony and doubled the potential jail time from 3 to 6 years. I am not sure if doubling the penalty again would help since some people just do not think about the consequences of their actions in those scenarios)

[ELCO5280]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

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

Frankly I have no interest in what goes on in Hong Kong and really that isn't a quality comparison. What I am cognitive of is what I see everyday on the roads and when I cycle commuted for 2 years. More often than not if someone is swerving in and out of lanes, crossing into bike lanes, running red lights, stopping in cross walks, turning in front of a walk light, etc. they are either drunk or on their phone... or both.

I don't let "data" trump personal experience.

[skins_fan82]

Originally Posted by robertgoodman

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.

Well, you have a point. I've lived in DC and Seattle, which were both bigger than Denver, and I guess there were a lot more "news worthy" stories than pedestrians being hit by cars (not that it's not a big deal), and there's only so much time during the evening news.

And you were correct on assuming I'm from DC. go skins. lol

[new2colo]

Hit and runs seem to be very commonplace here. I don't know why people don't stop when they plow into someone. The ticket a driver will get if they were texting when the incident happened is much less than the penalty from just flooring it and fleeing.

Some of the pedestrian-car conflicts are the fault of the pedestrians, though. I remember a story from late 2011 of a pedestrian getting killed running across I-25. I see pedestrians boldly crossing the streets that intersect the 16th Street Mall against the signal, daring a car to hit them.

[rushhournewb]

Not taking your own personal safety seriously combined with people running red lights. It's your life, the car that hits you won't care if you're all messed up because you weren't taking every possible precaution. Yes, I've been "almost" hit many times, even with looking all directions at once, but if I eventually do get hit I guess that's what God intended.

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

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

Actually that has been illegal in Hong Kong, since 2000, and carries a pretty big fine.

Transport Department - Q & A

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by 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?!

It's not limited to Denver. 11% of all motor vehicle accidents in the US involve hit and run. LA is actually the highest at 48%.

LA Leads Nation in Hit/Run Collisions, Councilman Says | NBC Southern California

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by KaaBoom

Actually that has been illegal in Hong Kong, since 2000, and carries a pretty big fine. Transport Department - Q & A

Very helpful.
But, I was referring to pedestrians not paying whilst chatting on their mobile phones.
I was not even thinking about drivers "As of 2009 the Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong reports that there are 584,000 licensed vehicles in Hong Kong" and this is from a population of 7M.

[McGowdog]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

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

Being on a cell phone... texting blogging and surfing the internet while driving in traffic are acceptable behavior?

[maciesmom]

Originally Posted by ELCO5280

Frankly I have no interest in what goes on in Hong Kong and really that isn't a quality comparison. What I am cognitive of is what I see everyday on the roads and when I cycle commuted for 2 years. More often than not if someone is swerving in and out of lanes, crossing into bike lanes, running red lights, stopping in cross walks, turning in front of a walk light, etc. they are either drunk or on their phone... or both.

I don't let "data" trump personal experience.

While I acknowledge this occurs, I think it's important to acknowledge that there are also irresponsible and rude cyclists. I've seen my share of cyclists and pedestrians ignore the "rules of the road" as well - including riding 2 and three abreast on two lane roads with an entire line of vehicles behind them, unable to pass; jaywalking etc. If EVERYONE (cars, cyclists and pedestrians) followed the rules of the roads and paid attention to the task at hand, it would be safer for us all.