Denver Neighborhoods With the Most Pedestrians Hit by Cars

Pedestrian deaths in Colorado hit an all-time high last year, with 93 casualties in 2017. This problem may be most acute in Denver, where, from 2012 through last month, more than 3,000 pedestrians were hit by cars. And while none of the city's 78 neighborhoods was spared from such incidents, the problem is considerably worse in some areas, many of them in heavily traveled sections of downtown. One community has suffered more than 200 accidents of this type in recent years.

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 utilized 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 from the start of the database to April 19 of this year in Denver. Around a third of that total took place in the following ten neighborhoods. And while various parts of the city are represented, the lion's share of them are 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.

Count down the ten neighborhoods with the most crashes involving pedestrians below. The roster is supplemented by details about the first listed crash in each area and the most recent one prior to April 20. We've also added notes about incidents that involved special circumstances, such as serious bodily injuries or hit-and-runs.

Number 10: Congress Park

Number of accidents involving pedestrians hit by cars from 2012 to April 19, 2018: 87

First listed incident:

06/08/12
E COLFAX AVE/N ADAMS ST

Most recent incident:

03/06/18
2300 BLOCK E COLFAX AVE

Number 9 (tie): Cheesman Park

Number of accidents involving pedestrians hit by cars from 2012 to April 19, 2018: 88

First listed incident:

03/08/12
1400 BLOCK N FRANKLIN ST
Note: Hit and run

Most recent incident:

03/25/18
E 13TH AVE/N LAFAYETTE ST
Note: DUI/DUID

Number 9 (tie): Stapleton

Number of accidents involving pedestrians hit by cars from 2012 to April 19, 2018: 88

First listed incident:

09/02/12
E 36TH AVE/N QUEBEC ST

Most recent incident:

04/10/18
N CENTRAL PARK BLVD/E 25TH DR

Number 7: Montbello

Number of accidents involving pedestrians hit by cars from 2012 to April 19, 2018: 92

First listed incident:

04/18/12
E ALBROOK DR/N ANAHEIM CT

Most recent incident:

01/31/18
5000 BLOCK N CROWN BLVD

Number 6: Baker

Number of accidents involving pedestrians hit by cars from 2012 to April 19, 2018: 94

First listed incident:

08/31/12
W ALAMEDA AVE / S BANNOCK ST

Most recent incident:

01/19/18
W 2ND AVE/N BROADWAY ST

Number 5: Westwood

Number of accidents involving pedestrians hit by cars from 2012 to April 19, 2018: 95

First listed incident:

04/28/12
W ALAMEDA AVE/S HAZEL CT

Most recent incident:

03/14/18
300 BLOCK S HAZEL CT
Note: Serious bodily injury

Number 4: Civic Center

Number of accidents involving pedestrians hit by cars from 2012 to April 19, 2018: 102

First listed incident:

07/01/12
1300 BLOCK N SPEER BLVD
Note: Hit-and-run

Most recent incident:

01/19/18
E 13TH AVE / N BROADWAY ST

Number 3: Five Points

Number of accidents involving pedestrians hit by cars from 2012 to April 19, 2018: 154

First listed incident:

06/15/12
N BROADWAY ST / BLAKE ST
Note: Hit-and-run

Most recent incident:

04/08/18
2000 BLOCK BLAKE ST

Number 2: Union Station

Number of accidents involving pedestrians hit by cars from 2012 to April 19, 2018: 160

First listed incident:

08/08/12
1400 BLOCK 20TH ST

Most recent incident:

03/15/18
20TH ST/BLAKE ST

Number 1: Capitol Hill

Number of accidents involving pedestrians hit by cars from 2012 to April 19, 2018: 201

First listed incident:

03/04/12
1400 BLOCK N BROADWAY ST

Most recent incident:

03/09/18
314 E 13TH AVE
Note: Hit-and-run