Overview:
Denverites are split on whether distracted drivers or careless pedestrians are to blame for a 50% rise in pedestrian deaths.
Last week, we published Cassis Tingley’s article, “Denver Pedestrian Deaths Up 50%, Advocates Say City Must Do More.” The story delves into the reactions of citizens, pedestrian safety advocates, and local government officials to the news earlier this month that 25 pedestrians had been killed in Denver car crashes this year. This is a 50% increase over the same period last year, when there were 18 deaths.
Tingley’s piece discusses the city’s current approaches, such as the Vision Zero Plan and the SPEED Program, as well as what is being done to prevent future deaths. The story elicited a strong response from our site’s readers, including over 60 comments on a Nextdoor post about the article.
“Wow. 😮 That’s horrible!” Louise Hillen Isom, who lives at Daniels Garden in Lakewood, on Nextdoor wrote in response to the story. “Tragic.”
Many, including Colleen ‘Kelly’ Busch, who lives in Denver’s Hampden neighborhood, wondered in response to the story: “What else the city needs to do? There are crosswalks and lights and stoplights, etc. Yes, there are intersections that need improvement; however, it seems the drivers should slow down and be aware also?!”
Shawnda Roush, who lives in Wash Park, responded to Busch by saying her neighbors are trying to get a project going within the city to slow down the East Alameda Avenue traffic. “We have a few inches of ROW from traffic going 50+MPH. One person that doesn’t live in the neighborhood is trying to stop it and might get their way. Drivers do not pay attention, nor do they care to drive the speed limit. They treat our neighborhood like a highway.”
Theresa Becerril from Broomfield added that “blinking crosswalk lights on the road, not just on the signs next to the road, help a lot, and delaying the walk light for a second or so, so drivers have a chance to look, process and take action before a pedestrian starts into the lane. Everywhere the extra lighting goes, helps save lives. At night, especially, when parking spaces are full and there is lots to distract drivers, having lit crosswalks blinking at you makes it much easier to notice.”
Other readers, including Robert Emery, pointed out that “I haven’t really seen ANY enforcement of the traffic laws in Denver. I think that enforcing those laws and making the police visible would help a lot.”
Gaar Potter agreed, arguing that the problem would be alleviated if we got “unlicensed, unregistered and unsafe vehicles and drivers off of the road and enforce traffic laws.”
However, not everyone agreed that the problem was solely with the drivers. Many of our readers argued that distracted pedestrians contribute to the problem.
Trevor Quinn, who lives near Fort Logan, wants us to “teach people to pay attention. But judging from the way the world is, no one knows how to do that, and no one has situational awareness anymore. It’s sad, actually. If we had better taught kids and adults, we wouldn’t have 99% of the problems we have, but here we are, hating each other blindly and can’t even cross the street without looking both ways. Shows the state of this “great state” we’ve declined so so so so hard since I was a child. Hate seeing it happen.”
Mandell Winter, who lives in Mayfair, put it bluntly: “Sadly, the city can’t force pedestrians to obey traffic signs or signals. It can’t make pedestrians aware of their surroundings. I walk miles every day and regularly see people with their noses in their phones and earbuds—totally unaware of what is around them. Often, when I pass them, they are startled. I see them cross streets without looking up or in any direction. That’s half the problem.”
“The other is drivers doing much the same thing—driving a massive machine while looking at their phone in their laps,” Winter continued. “Denver prohibits people from using their phones while driving. It needs to be a primary offense, to be enforced rigorously, and be a high point offense.”
Others took a lighter tone. “Wake up, walk with your head up. LOL,” wrote Ann Benson of Englewood Area 3. “I watched a man head down, glued to his cell, walking his dog, and he ran straight into my trash can in the street at the curb. It cracked me up, but it is concerning how checked out people are!”
But her story prompted a sharp rebuttal from Ben Fuller of Jefferson Park. “Ann, when’s the last time someone walking around on their phone disintegrated your bones because they walked into you? What, never? Perhaps that should indicate what the real problem is.”
That same back-and-forth played out elsewhere in the thread. Sherry Weinstein of Littleton argued that “the main problem is pedestrians looking at phones while walking. Not the city’s problem. Peds need to be more careful!”
Fuller jumped back in to push against that framing: “Sherry, it’s the drivers that are the problem actually.” Fuller went further in another post, laying out a detailed list of what he sees as the “facts and truth for drivers:
1) If you can’t stop for a red light, you were driving too fast.
2) When you’re turning right, you have to yield to pedestrians who have right of way. You should look for pedestrians to your left and right and in front of you, not just look left ‘for a gap.’
3) You are not owed fluorescent pedestrians; drive slower at night when illumination is inadequate.
4) You also need to yield to pedestrians on left turns, too. Look through those turns and don’t start them if the crosswalk is clear.
5) DO NOT TRY AND ‘BEAT’ a pedestrian. The safest place to cross is after the pedestrian has finished.”
For Robert Michael, who lives in the RiNo Art District, the responsibility lies on both sides. “In all reality, drivers and pedestrians can be blamed. Self-reflection goes a long way.”
But Logan T. from Centennial pushed back, pointing out the power imbalance: “Robert, only one of those people is driving a multi-thousand-pound human flattener traveling at deadly speeds, though. We don’t need a ‘walker’s license’ to use the sidewalk because our bodies can’t wipe out a building or seven families if we look at our phone.”
The conversation sparked by this story makes one thing clear: Denverites care deeply about safety on their streets, but they don’t always agree on where the biggest problems lie. What unites them is a desire for safer roads for all.
We want to hear from you, too. Share your thoughts in the comments below and let us know what changes you think would make Denver’s streets safer.
