Demonstrators staged a die-in, lying across the plaza in front of city hall on Wednesday afternoon, clutching carnations and mourning 93 people killed on Denver streets last year as traffic fatalities hit a record high.
They challenged city transportation officials, planners, and police to do more to improve safety.
Traffic deaths “are predictable and preventable,” Denver Streets Partnership volunteer Andy Cushen declared into a red megaphone before the 15-minute demonstration.
Nine years ago, Denver leaders launched a Vision Zero Action Plan to eliminate traffic fatalities before 2030 by transforming city streets to calm vehicle traffic. The 49 deaths in 2017 increased to 93 last year, with another 13 more so far this year, according to Denver police data.
The 2025 deaths, up by 16% from 80 in 2024, included 35 pedestrian fatalities and multiple hit-and-runs. A police analysis found the primary causes were impaired driving, speeding, and driver distraction.
The loss of 29-year-old Jamie Kisting, one of the 93, hit head-on Halloween morning by a wrong-way driver on Interstate 25 — torments her partner Pete Aldinger, “pretty much every second all day every day,” he said. She was a popular bartender, a cat and plant lover, the heart of her social group, and “we were going to buy a house together and open a bar,” Aldinger said. “This could happen to anyone. It’s easy to blow it off when it doesn’t happen to you. This has altered my life for the rest of my life.”
Denver could install sensor-activated flashing lights as was done in Milwaukee, Phoenix, and Hartford to alert wrong-way drivers, he said before the demonstration, where he cried after lying on the pavement when Cushen announced her name. “Way more powerful than I expected, seeing all these people out here.”
Northwest Denver resident Deb Neeley, 66, said she’d seen road conditions deteriorate since she moved to the Sloan’s Lake neighborhood in 1977 and feels nervous when crossing arterials such as Federal and Sheridan boulevards. She lay in front of city hall “because I’ve been paying attention to the casualties” and advocates for better bicycle lanes at gatherings of the Sloan’s Lake Citizens Group she leads.
“I live and work in Denver, and I experience a lot of aggressive drivers, like people speeding and running red lights all the time. When I do drive, I regularly encounter aggressive and distracted drivers pretty much everywhere I go,” Neeley said.
“I had a friend — Ainslie O’Neil — who was killed at an intersection, 35th Avenue and Federal Boulevard, as she was crossing the street on her bicycle. …..There’s a lot more that can be done to make our streets safer, and I would like to see the city make safety a bigger priority and spend more money on safety measures.”
The surge in traffic fatalities in 2025 “is certainly concerning to Denver Police,” agency spokesman Doug Schepman said. Police will step up enforcement in 2026 “to help modify dangerous, crash-causing behaviors,” he said.
Police records show officers issued 21,427 traffic citations to drivers in 2025, a 7% increase over the average over the previous three years and up from 19,587 in 2021.
Denver Streets Partnership director Jill Locantore said city officials ought to “take more action more urgently” to redesign streets for safety.
