Scooter Fatality Brings Number of Dead on Denver Streets to 50
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Cameron Hagan, a 26-year-old scooter rider died Friday after a crash on Aug. 4 in the Highland Park neighborhood, according to Denver Police. His fatality is the 50th on Denver streets so far this year compared to 33 at this point in 2018, a 52% increase.
Police said Hagen was at fault for his own death because he was riding his scooter in the wrong direction of the street when a car collided with him. But his friend Christian Johner, who was riding with him that night, disputes that Hagen was at fault, according to the Billings Gazette.
“There was a lifted pickup truck that was parked, not illegally, but obstructing his view to tell if the car was there,” Johner told the Gazette. “The same parked truck limited the vision of the driver (of the Honda). It wasn’t the fault of the driver and it wasn’t the fault of Cameron.”
Who’s at fault for crash came up last night at the Streetsblog Denver Scooter Debate, including through this tweet from John Riecke.
After the most recent death I saw people commenting that scooters are dangerous but completely ignoring the role of the car in the fatality. How can we change this culture of indifference to the actual killers on the streets? #scooterdebate
— jcriecke@urbanists.social (@JCRiecke) August 13, 2019
The debate also brought up how Denver’s streets are overwhelmingly dedicated to cars, with little space allocated for other modes of transportation like walking, biking, scooters and transit.
Way to go, Jill Lacantore @WalkDenver! 80% of our roadways are dedicated to the automobile – the rest of us are only fighting for scraps! #scooterdebate #micromobility #emobility
— morgan huber (@missmorganmolly) August 13, 2019
In February 2016, Denver committed to ending all traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2030.
You’re invited to the Streetsblog Scooter Debate August 12. Get tickets here.
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