Denver pedestrian deaths jump 50% from last year

Pedestrian deaths in Denver have jumped more than 50% in 2025 compared to the same period last year, according to city transportation officials.

As of Tuesday, 25 pedestrians had been killed in crashes so far this year in Denver, according to the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure. By that date last year, 16 pedestrians had died.

“It is breaking our hearts because we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of fatal crashes with pedestrians in Denver and around the state,” Amy Ford, executive director of the city’s transportation department, said Wednesday.

Pedestrian deaths account for nearly half of all Denver road deaths reported this year, city officials said.

The additional crash fatalities included 17 people in cars, six motorcyclists, seven people on scooters and three bicyclists — a total of 58 victims.

Motorists and motorcyclists killed in Denver crashes dropped between 2024 and 2025, but the increase in pedestrian deaths caused overall traffic fatalities to rise slightly, according to data provided by city officials.

Denver’s 16 pedestrian deaths during the first nine months of 2024 appear to be lower than the average over the past four years. City transportation data shows 24 pedestrians died in 2023, followed by 22 in 2022.

City officials are working to reduce fatal crashes in several different ways, Ford said.

Transportation staff started a speed-reduction program along Federal Boulevard and Alameda Avenue, which includes changing the timing of stoplights and adding radar speed signs that show drivers how fast they’re going.

On York Street, transportation crews reconfigured lanes between 18th and 40th avenues to add left turn lanes and reduce crashes, and new center medians on West Colfax and Hampden avenues make a shorter distance for pedestrians to cross the street, Ford said.

Vulnerable road user deaths have also spiked significantly across Colorado in the past 10 years, according to the Colorado State Patrol. Pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities in Colorado increased 78% between 2015 and 2024, while passenger vehicle deaths increased 7% during that same timeframe.

Last year was the second-deadliest year on record for pedestrians and bicyclists in Colorado, with 134 fatalities, state patrol officials said.

And October 2024 was the deadliest month on record for pedestrians, Colorado Department of Transportation chief of staff Sally Chafee said.

Part of that is because it’s getting darker earlier as the season changes, she said.

“Our Colorado lifestyle doesn’t stop because the sun sets earlier,” Chafee said. “People are still out walking, running and cycling, but in the dusk and darkness they’re incredibly difficult to see.”