How dangerous are Colorado’s roads?

Everyone knows that driving comes with several dangers, not including the weather and other drivers. Across Colorado, 622 people have died in fatal car crashes in 2020, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation. While there are many reasons for these deaths, looking closely at the data reveals some interesting trends.

Where are the driving conditions worst?

There are definitely indications of which roads are among the worst. You should absolutely care when you’re on roads like I-25 in El Paso County or East Colfax in Denver. Those roads, however, only tell a part of the story.

According to this report on accident deaths in Colorado, the most deadly counties are:

1. El Paso County
2. Denver County
3. Arapahoe County
4. Adams County
5. Weld County

When you review those counties on a map, they are all within roughly 100 miles of each other. This also happens to be the most populated section of the state, including Denver and Colorado Springs.

Why traffic density means more crashes

The data in these reports all point to a well-known and often discussed concern in traffic safety: congestion and accidents are linked. On the surface, this is an obvious correlation because where there are more cars, there are more opportunities for accidents. This leads us to some fascinating questions:

• Do accidents follow congestion, or does congestion follow accidents?
• Is there a difference between high traffic and congestion?
• What factors increase congestion and accidents?
• Are there mitigating factors?

Without an in-depth statistical study of the sources of accidents, there is no answer to some of these questions. However, the state is in the process of updating traffic patterns to increase safety, and we will see the results of that in the coming years.

Some crashes are inevitable because of negligence.

No matter what mitigation tactics Colorado takes, however, there will always be some accidents. Negligence is unavoidable. However, you can hold a negligent driver accountable if they cause your injuries.