And the number of traffic fatalities so far in 2023 is running weeks ahead of last year's rate.
DPD statistics from January counted 82 traffic deaths in Denver during 2022, two shy of 2021's total. But according to new data obtained by Westword, the total increased to 84 because of two more casualties. On November 1, an accident on the 1300 block of Tremont Place involving two autos and a fixed object resulted in the recent death of Richard Segura; a misdemeanor hit-and-run charge has been pressed in that case. And then the Denver Police revealed that Kesela Mengistu, the victim of a December 10 hit-and-run on the 4100 block of West Colfax Avenue, also died from his injuries, adding another fatality to the toll.
On December 12, Metro Denver Crime Stoppers issued an alert about the December 10 incident, stating that shortly after 9 p.m., the vehicle seen in the photo at the top of this post — possibly a silver Dodge Journey — struck a pedestrian near the intersection of Colfax and Quitman. But despite this clue, no arrests have been made to date; charges are listed as "pending."
According to Denver Police records, the deadliest year for traffic fatalities was 1969, when 100 were registered. However, this information wasn't widely accessible until recent years, when fatalities began trending upward in a significant way. Here are the department's numbers for each year since 2010, when 42 people died in traffic accidents — exactly half of both the 2021 and 2022 totals,
2010: 42
2011: 41
2012: 40
2013: 47
2014: 49
2015: 57
2016: 61
2017: 51
2018: 64
2019: 71
2020: 57
2021: 84
2022: 84
This performance indicates how far Denver is from achieving the goal of Vision Zero, an action plan launched in 2016 with the stated goal of "zero traffic-related deaths and serious injuries by 2030."
In a January interview with Westword, Nancy Kuhn, spokesperson for the Denver Department of Transportation & Infrastructure, didn't celebrate what at the time seemed like a slight reduction in 2022 traffic deaths from the previous year, emphasizing that "every fatality is troubling to us." To that end, she outlined a series of what she termed "success stories from 2021," including attempts to make the 20th Street exit on Interstate 25 less dangerous.
"After installation of new signage and pavement markings in 2019, the crash picture at this busy downtown on-ramp went from being a significant hot spot in previous years to zero serious crash reports in 2020," Kuhn pointed out. "There was one fatality at this location in December 2021, a single-vehicle crash with speed/impairment as contributing factors. DOTI worked again with partners at the Colorado Department of Transportation to refresh all of the safety markings and replace damaged signage."
Kuhn also touted a series of safety-related changes on East Colfax Avenue, multimodal improvements on Broadway, speed reduction on Santa Fe Drive, the use of traffic-safety cameras at locations such as 36th Avenue and Quebec Street, and more. But Denver's traffic-fatality results from early 2023 aren't promising.
Denver Police count sixteen traffic fatalities in the city from January 1 through March 9, with four of them already resulting in criminal charges ranging from careless driving resulting in death to vehicular homicide. The sixteenth traffic fatality in 2022 didn't take place until April 1.
Anyone with information about the December 10, 2022, accident that took the life of Kesela Mengistu can contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP (7867). Click to access the updated 2022 Denver traffic fatality list and the 2023 Denver traffic fatalities to date.
