Denver Pedestrian Crash Patterns: A Deep 2024 Analysis
Key Takeaways
- Intersections remain the epicenter of pedestrian crashes in Denver — but nearly 40% occur away from intersections, highlighting risk beyond controlled crossing points.
- Daylight dominates crash timing, yet over 160 incidents happened in low-light conditions, proving visibility is a factor even under street lighting.
- Careless driving and failure to yield are the two most frequently cited driver actions, together contributing to over 40% of pedestrian crashes.
- Pedestrian behavior is not negligible — mid-block crossings and non-compliance with signals are prominent contributing factors.
- Statewide pedestrian deaths remain alarmingly high at ~120 fatalities in 2024, despite early 2025 showing improvement.
What’s in scope:
- All police-reported pedestrian-involved crashes in the City and County of Denver between Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2024, excluding fatalities and serious bodily injuries (SBIs).
- Fatality statistics are included from CDOT at the statewide level for context, since city-level fatality data was unavailable for 2024.
Process:
- Filtered dataset to include any crash record where a pedestrian was a unit/mode.
- Deduplicated records using unique crash IDs to avoid double-counting multi-party reports.
- Categorized crashes by location type, lighting conditions, driver actions, driver contributing factors, and pedestrian actions.
- Compared findings with statewide fatality data to place non-fatal trends in perspective.
Limitations:
- Denver’s Open Data Catalog dataset omits fatalities.
- Statewide fatality counts are not directly comparable to Denver non-fatal counts.
- Underreporting is possible, especially for low-severity incidents or those on private property.
Walking in Denver should be safe—whether you’re crossing Colfax to catch the bus or walking down Broadway. Yet in 2024, pedestrian-involved crashes (excluding fatalities) remain a serious concern. This blog dives deeply into police-reported crash data from Denver’s Open Data Catalog to uncover clear patterns in where, when, and how these incidents occur.
We then place these findings in context using Colorado state-wide fatality data to give full perspective. We’ll wrap up with a snapshot of 2025 trends so far.
Where Crashes Occur: Hotspot Mapping
| Intersection | Pedestrian Crashes (2024) |
|---|---|
| Federal Blvd & W Colfax Ave | 7 |
| S Federal Blvd & W Alameda Ave | 7 |
| Colfax Ave & Broadway | 6 |
| Colfax Ave & Colorado Blvd | 5 |
| Federal Blvd & W Evans Ave | 5 |
| E Colfax Ave & N Broadway | 5 |
| Federal Blvd & W 38th Ave | 4 |
| Colorado Blvd & E 14th Ave | 4 |
| Broadway & E Alameda Ave | 4 |
| Federal Blvd & W Mississippi Ave | 4 |
Top settings:
- At Intersection – 232
- Non‑Intersection – 115
- Intersection‑Related – 46
- Parking Lot – 45
- Alley / Driveway Access – 20
- Mid‑Block Crosswalk – 9
Interpretation: Intersections dominate crash counts — as expected — but 38% of crashes happened outside traditional intersections (mid-block, parking lots, alleys). These areas lack signal control and are often overlooked in enforcement campaigns, making them a hidden risk zone.
Lighting Conditions at Crash Time
Daylight dominates, but low-light conditions stay risky.
Counts:
- Daylight – 283
- Dark – Lighted – 143
- Dark – Unlighted – 24
- Dawn or Dusk – 19
Takeaway: While ~60% of crashes happened in daylight, the 167 incidents in low-light conditions suggest that visibility remains a hazard even in “lighted” areas. This points to either inadequate street lighting or overreliance on drivers to detect pedestrians in dark conditions.
Driver Behavior: Primary Risk Drivers
Top Driver Actions :
Careless Driving – 97
Failed to Yield Right-of-Way – 78
No Contributing Action – 22
Other Contributing Action – 20
Improper Backing – 7
Failed to Stop at Signal – 7
Disregarded Stop Sign – 3
Disregarded Other Device/Marking – 2
Insight: Careless driving (97 crashes) and failure to yield right-of-way (78 crashes) are clear behavioral risk factors. Together, they account for over two out of every five pedestrian crashes.
From a prevention standpoint, targeted enforcement at known pedestrian corridors during high-risk hours could yield measurable reductions.
Driver Contributing Factors: The Human Element
Recognizing distraction and visibility issues is key:
Top factors:
- Looked / Did Not See – 60
- No Apparent Cond. Factor – 54
- Not Observed – 47
- Distracted—Other Exterior – 14
- Sun Glare, Distracted—Interior – ≤10 each
Note: “Looked but did not see” (60 crashes) remains a persistent problem, reflecting attention failures rather than willful violations. This suggests that engineering solutions — better lighting, high-visibility crosswalk markings, pedestrian refuge islands — may be as important as enforcement.
Pedestrian Behavior: Not Just a Driver Issue
Much of the pedestrian behavior that contributes to crashes occurs mid-block:
Key behaviors:
- Cross/Enter NOT at Intersection – 46
- Failure to Obey Signs/Signals – 23
- Failure to Yield ROW – 22
- Cross/Enter at Intersection – 18
- Dart/Dash, In Roadway Improperly – ~10 each
Takeaway: Crossing outside of intersections (46 crashes) is the leading pedestrian-related factor. While infrastructure design plays a role — mid-block destinations encourage unsafe crossings — education and targeted enforcement can reduce risk without placing full responsibility on pedestrians.
Statewide Fatality Context: The Broader Picture
While our Denver data excludes fatalities, state-level data fills the gap:
- Colorado had approximately 120 pedestrian fatalities in 2024, out of 684 total vehicle-related deaths—nearly one in six deaths involved a pedestrian.
- Pedestrian + bicyclist fatalities together numbered 134 in 2024, making it one of the deadliest years for vulnerable road users (VRUs) on record, according to Colorado Department of Transportation.
- Favorably, Colorado reported a 21% decrease in pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities in early 2025, according to CBS News, compared to the same period in 2024.
Note: Denver police data offers deep insight into incident patterns, but excludes fatal events. Statewide CDOT data indicates pedestrian deaths remain elevated, underscoring the gravity behind even non-fatal crash trends.
2025 Snapshot (YTD trends)
- Colorado statewide fatalities are trending downward in early 2025, according to CDOT.
- From the Denver dataset (non-fatal), early 2025 continues to reflect similar driver and pedestrian behavior patterns. Mid-block crossings, careless driving, and daylight exposure are still dominant.
Final Analysis
From an analytical standpoint, Denver’s pedestrian crash problem is multi-factorial:
- High-exposure zones (busy intersections) combine with under-addressed mid-block hazards.
- Driver and pedestrian behaviors both contribute, often in predictable, preventable ways.
- Low-light incidents highlight a visibility gap even in “lighted” areas.
