Reader: Denver Drivers Apparently Don't Have the Ability to Stop at Stop Signs

Colorado drivers were especially careless last year. In 2017, pedestrian deaths in Colorado hit an all-time high, with 93 casualties.This was an especially serious problem in Denver, where every neighborhood saw a fatal auto/pedestrian accident. But some neighborhoods are worse than others, as we explained in a recent post that dug into City of Denver data.

Readers had plenty to say about bad drivers in this city.

Suggests Mike:

Yep, apparently drivers don't have the ability to stop at or before stop signs, which would keep them out of the crosswalks.

  Ronnie explains:

It's the new style. If you stop, you're a loser. When I stop, I think the person behind me is going to hit me every time, and they actually get mad when you come to a full stop.

Aaron adds: 

Texting and driving kills. Take back streets for people.

But Joe responds:

It’s the cyclists that I have to watch out for. I have to dodge one every single day because they don’t follow traffic lights or rules and act like pedestrians crossing the street are invisible.

 And Josh comments:

I'm honestly amazed at the number of people who have their heads buried so deep in their phones that they can't be bothered to check for traffic before crossing.

But then there's this from Ronnie: 

 Check out the douchey drivers blaming everyone else but the drivers. Christ.

Keep reading for more stories about transportation in Denver.

"Denver's Longest Traffic Signal and Wait Times on Major Routes"

"Inside the C-470 Express Lanes Project Just Before Major Milestones"

"Inside I-25 South Gap Project on One of Colorado's Deadliest Highways"

"Denver Neighborhoods With the Fewest Car-Versus-Bicycles Accidents"

"Denver Neighborhoods With the Most Car-Bicycle Accidents"

The pedestrian/car crash facts and figures analyzed by Westword can be found in the Denver open-data catalog, a free online resource that we also used in our recent posts about the neighborhoods with the most and fewest accidents involving cyclists struck by cars. Visitors to the website will find traffic information dating back to 2012 — and stats for more recent incidents are accessible within a week or two of their occurrence.

We discovered that there were 3,332 reports of accidents involving cars striking pedestrians in Denver from the start of the database to April 19 of this year. Around a third of that total took place in ten neighborhoods, the lion's share located in the busiest sections of central Denver, where everyone seems to be in a rush whether they're on foot or behind the wheel.

That combination can have tragic results, which is why we published the stories and comments responding to them. (Not because we were pushing "anti-bike propaganda," as streetsblog.org suggested.)

What do you think about drivers in Colorado? Comment on this post or send a note to [email protected].