Last Week: Drivers Seriously Injured Five People Walking and Killed a Sixth — Victor Barela

Between May 20 and May 26, drivers killed one person walking and injured five others on Denver streets. One motorcyclist and one driver also suffered life-changing injuries.

Denver PD responded to 523 traffic collisions — 108 on Friday alone.

The victim who died was 59-year-old Victor Barela, who was walking near Evans Avenue and Bryant Street when a driver hit and killed him. Denver police have arrested Isaac Paz, 22, in connection with the hit-and-run.

With this series, we aim to remind politicians, transportation officials, local media, and the public that the cost of inaction on traffic safety policies is extremely high. The longer it takes to redesign our car-centric streets, the more people will get hurt or killed.

The Hancock administration and Denver PD still lack a protocol for alerting the public to serious traffic collisions, despite the mayor’s ostensible commitment ending traffic deaths, announced more than two years ago. Hopefully documenting this information, gathered from Denver PD reports, will help drive change from decision-makers and elevate the profile of this public health crisis.

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