As of Sunday, 42 driving-related deaths have occurred in Denver, a trend that would leave the city with more than 80 traffic deaths every year since 2021.

Last year, Denver recorded 84 fatalities, a number 2023 is on pace to break, assuming the current trend holds.  

A traffic death involves an incident with a motor vehicle or public transportation. These situations may include pedestrians, bicycles, trains, or vehicles, something Denver has been aggressively working to reduce in the last several years.

In 2015, Denver began laying the groundwork for the Vision Zero initiative, a transportation safety philosophy most fully developed in Sweden in the late 1990s. Since its inception, Sweden has significantly reduced traffic fatalities, making it one of the safest driving cities in the world.

Denver strives to replicate that, with the goal of reducing traffic deaths to zero by 2030. Since 2017, the city’s efforts have included traffic education, safer bike lanes, traffic signal changes and traffic calming.

The goal remains elusive.

In 2017, traffic-related deaths stood at 51. In 2021 and 2022, they hit 84, a new high.

“We know the path to achieving Vision Zero is not a smooth one,” outgoing Mayor Michael Hancock said in the Vision Zero action plan revised as of May 2023. “It requires a fundamental and widespread commitment to a culture of safety that implements safer infrastructure and influences good driving behaviors in a way that speaks to every person, every time they get behind the wheel.”

In the revised plan, the city plans to focus on three main aspects of Denver streets:

First, Denver looks to work on “high-injury networks,” where traffic and congestion are most concentrated. About 5% of Denver’s streets make up 50% of vehicle fatalities, so the city wants to reduce speed limits or create better bike lanes there. The streets include South Federal Boulevard, East Colfax Avenue and South Broadway.

“Instead of looking at a high injury network corridor, we plan to look at three streets off of that and acknowledging the data and trends that pop up,” said Rolf Eisinger, Denver’s Vision Zero program manager. “It’s looking at an entire area, not just the specific road.”

Second, the city seeks to reduce speed limits on major streets to 25 mph by 2028, a move that requires going through the Colorado Department of Transportation, the agency that controls state highway speed limits.

Finally, Denver wants to emphasize better infrastructure for bicyclists and public transportation and create 134 miles of bike lane upgrades, new public transportation lines and 120 upgraded pedestrian crossings by 2029.

“Transit is the safest mode to move around our city,” Eisinger said, noting zero traffic deaths on public transit in 2023. “Prioritizing and aligning work and improving our transit methods are one of the main focuses.”

Regardless of methodology, the motive remains — reduce the hike in traffic deaths since transportation returned to normal following the 2020 pandemic.

“We cannot rest,” Hancock said. “A single life lost on our streets is unacceptable and preventable. We need to make Denver’s streets safe for everyone.”