Denver's Most Dangerous Streets: The Top Twenty

As of mid-September, Denver had suffered 65 traffic fatalities in 2022 — with the city heading to the highest total in more than a decade. But serious injuries are much more frequent occurrences in the city, and the details of those incidents help identify the most dangerous streets in Denver.

The information comes from the crash-data dashboard maintained by Vision Zero, a five-year action plan launched in 2017 with the self-described goal of "eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries by making our roadways safer for everyone" by 2030. The statistics related to serious bodily injuries include an overall total from 2013 to the present, as well as specifics pertaining to what's described as the "mode" of each incident: people in cars, people walking, people on motorcycles and people biking, plus a catch-all category dubbed "other" and cases under investigation.

These distinctions are important, because routes tend to be riskier for certain types of travel. For example, Speer Boulevard has generated far more car-related accidents, 44, than any other type; the next closest mode is people walking, with thirteen. In contrast, Santa Fe Drive has been equally dangerous for motorcycles and automobile drivers, with seventeen serious bodily injuries under each heading.

Federal Boulevard and Colfax Avenue are the only streets linked to more than 200 serious bodily injuries from 2013-2022. Federal registered the most among people in cars, 96, while 97 pedestrians were badly hurt on Colfax during the same period. And both have registered sizable increases since our previous report about dangerous streets in Denver, published on May 26. Since then, Federal has been the setting for thirteen more serious bodily injuries, while Colfax increased by fourteen.

Get the details on the twenty most dangerous streets in Denver in the following countdown:

Wadsworth Boulevard
Total serious bodily injuries, 2013-2022: 10
People in cars: 3
Other: 3
People walking: 2
People biking: 1
People on motorcycles: 1

Bruce Randolph Boulevard
Total serious bodily injuries, 2013-2022: 11
People walking: 5
People on motorcycles: 2
People in cars: 2
Other: 2

Ellsworth Avenue
Total serious bodily injuries, 2013-2022: 14
People in cars: 5
People on motorcycles: 3
People walking: 3
Other: 2
People biking: 1

Montview Boulevard
Total serious bodily injuries, 2013-2022: 18
People in cars: 9
People biking: 4
People walking: 2
Other: 2
People on motorcycles: 1

Morrison Road
Total serious bodily injuries, 2013-2022: 20
People in cars: 8
People walking: 5
People on motorcycles: 2
People biking: 2
Other: 2
Under investigation: 1

Lowell Boulevard
Total serious bodily injuries, 2013-2022: 26
People on motorcycles: 7
People in cars: 7
People walking: 6
People biking: 4
Other: 2

Brighton Boulevard
Total serious bodily injuries, 2013-2022: 31
People in cars: 12
People on motorcycles: 10
People walking: 4
Other: 3
People biking: 2

Logan Street
Total serious bodily injuries, 2013-2022: 32
People in cars: 13
People walking: 7
People on motorcycles: 4
People biking: 4
Other: 3
Under investigation: 1

Lincoln Street
Total serious bodily injuries, 2013-2022: 43
People walking: 17
People in cars: 9
People biking: 7
People on motorcycles: 6
Other: 3
Under investigation: 1

University Boulevard
Total serious bodily injuries, 2013-2022: 44
People in cars: 17
People walking: 15
People on motorcycles: 4
People biking: 4
Other: 4

Santa Fe Drive
Total serious bodily injuries, 2013-2022: 55
People on motorcycles: 17
People in cars: 17
Other: 9
People walking: 8
People biking: 3
Under investigation: 1

Hampden Avenue
Total serious bodily injuries, 2013-2022: 63
People in cars: 34
People on motorcycles: 14
People walking: 9
Other: 5
Under investigation 1

Speer Boulevard
Total serious bodily injuries, 2013-2022: 85
People in cars: 44
People walking: 13
People on motorcycles: 11
Other: 8
People biking: 6
Under investigation: 3

Evans Avenue
Total serious bodily injuries, 2013-2022: 99
People walking: 35
People in cars: 30
People on motorcycles: 14
Other: 10
People biking: 7
Under investigation: 3

Broadway
Total serious bodily injuries, 2013-2022: 111
People walking: 40
People in cars: 31
People on motorcycles: 21
Other: 10
People biking: 7
Under investigation: 2

Alameda Avenue
Total serious bodily injuries, 2013-2022: 112
People in cars: 55
People walking: 21
People on motorcycles: 18
Other: 14
People biking: 4

Colorado Boulevard
Total serious bodily injuries, 2013-2022: 127
People in cars: 53
People walking: 21
People on motorcycles: 20
Other: 11
People biking: 9
Under investigation: 3

Sheridan Boulevard
Total serious bodily injuries, 2013-2022: 133
People in cars: 58
People walking: 29
People on motorcycles: 23
Other: 16
People biking: 5
Under investigation: 2

Federal Boulevard
Total serious bodily injuries, 2013-2022: 240
People in cars: 96
People walking: 67
People on motorcycles: 41
Other: 15
People biking: 15
Under investigation: 6

Colfax Avenue
Total serious bodily injuries: 251
People walking: 97
People in cars: 61
People on motorcycles: 46
Other: 24
People biking: 20
Under investigation: 3