Counties with the most motor vehicle accident fatalities in Colorado
Aualliso // Wikimedia Commons
Counties with the most motor vehicle accident fatalities in Colorado
Media outlets were quick during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdowns that defined the summer and fall of 2020 to note just how little traffic there was as a result. Simple logic would suggest that less traffic equals a lower likelihood of accidents and thus fewer injuries and fatalities. Sadly, this was not the case.
Nationwide, traffic fatalities rose 7.2% in 2020 to nearly 39,000. That number was the highest recorded since 2007. Qualifying this disturbing fact is a sticky wicket—common denominators behind traffic deaths such as impaired driving, failure to use a seat belt, and excessive speed were certainly contributing factors, but they alone do not account for a rise in deaths commensurate with a 430-million-mile drop in the number of miles people traveled across the course of the year. What can be qualified, however, is where fatal crashes took place.
Citing data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Stacker identified the counties in Colorado that had the most fatalities from motor vehicle crashes in 2020. The number of accident fatalities are ranked by the number of deaths per 100,000 people, with the raw number functioning as a tiebreaker. The analysis only looked at counties with at least five deaths during 2020. Additional data is included on pedestrian, bicyclist, and drunk-driving-related deaths. In counties where at least five fatalities happened on the same street or interstate, the road with the most deaths is also included.
Maciej Bledowski // Shutterstock
#29. Boulder County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 4.9 per 100K people (#1,660 nationally, 16 deaths)
– 4 pedestrian deaths
– 3 bicyclist deaths
– 4 deaths involving drunk drivers
– No roads with at least five fatalities
Billy Hathorn // Wikimedia Commons
#28. Douglas County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 6.3 per 100K people (#1,587 nationally, 22 deaths)
– 1 pedestrian death
– 1 bicyclist death
– 8 deaths involving drunk drivers
– No roads with at least five fatalities
f11photo // Shutterstock
#27. Denver County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 7.2 per 100K people (#1,540 nationally, 51 deaths)
– 16 pedestrian deaths
– 0 bicyclist deaths
– 14 deaths involving drunk drivers
– Road with most fatalities: I-70 (6 fatalities)
Yassie // Wikimedia Commons
#26. Jefferson County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 7.4 per 100K people (#1,528 nationally, 43 deaths)
– 10 pedestrian deaths
– 1 bicyclist death
– 13 deaths involving drunk drivers
– No roads with at least five fatalities
Mountain Mike Johans // Wikimedia Commons
#25. Arapahoe County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 8.0 per 100K people (#1,497 nationally, 52 deaths)
– 11 pedestrian deaths
– 2 bicyclist deaths
– 26 deaths involving drunk drivers
– Road with most fatalities: I-225 (6 fatalities)
Eleaf // Wikimedia Commons
#24. Mesa County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 8.4 per 100K people (#1,479 nationally, 13 deaths)
– 0 pedestrian deaths
– 0 bicyclist deaths
– 6 deaths involving drunk drivers
– No roads with at least five fatalities
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#23. La Plata County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 9.0 per 100K people (#1,442 nationally, 5 deaths)
– 0 pedestrian deaths
– 1 bicyclist death
– 4 deaths involving drunk drivers
– No roads with at least five fatalities
Citycommunications // Wikicommons
#22. Larimer County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 9.0 per 100K people (#1,438 nationally, 32 deaths)
– 6 pedestrian deaths
– 1 bicyclist death
– 10 deaths involving drunk drivers
– No roads with at least five fatalities
Bdearthco // Wikimedia Commons
#21. Adams County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 10.3 per 100K people (#1,361 nationally, 53 deaths)
– 12 pedestrian deaths
– 1 bicyclist death
– 18 deaths involving drunk drivers
– No roads with at least five fatalities
Robert Corby // Wikimedia Commons
#20. El Paso County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 11.8 per 100K people (#1,261 nationally, 85 deaths)
– 12 pedestrian deaths
– 3 bicyclist deaths
– 43 deaths involving drunk drivers
– Road with most fatalities: I-25 (10 fatalities)
Jeffrey Beall // Wikimedia Commons
#19. Fremont County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 12.2 per 100K people (#1,227 nationally, 6 deaths)
– 0 pedestrian deaths
– 0 bicyclist deaths
– 1 death involving drunk drivers
– No roads with at least five fatalities
Jeffrey Beall from Colorado, USA // Wikimedia Commons
#18. Montrose County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 14.2 per 100K people (#1,105 nationally, 6 deaths)
– 0 pedestrian deaths
– 1 bicyclist death
– 2 deaths involving drunk drivers
– No roads with at least five fatalities
John Wark // Wikicommons
#17. Pueblo County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 14.3 per 100K people (#1,096 nationally, 24 deaths)
– 4 pedestrian deaths
– 0 bicyclist deaths
– 9 deaths involving drunk drivers
– Road with most fatalities: I-25 (6 fatalities)
Peter Romero // Wikimedia Commons
#16. Weld County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 16.7 per 100K people (#921 nationally, 54 deaths)
– 4 pedestrian deaths
– 0 bicyclist deaths
– 22 deaths involving drunk drivers
– Road with most fatalities: US-85 (12 fatalities)
Jeffrey Beall // Wikimedia Commons
#15. Montezuma County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 19.3 per 100K people (#797 nationally, 5 deaths)
– 3 pedestrian deaths
– 0 bicyclist deaths
– 1 death involving drunk drivers
– No roads with at least five fatalities
Jeffrey Beall // Wikimedia Commons
#14. Elbert County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 19.3 per 100K people (#796 nationally, 5 deaths)
– 0 pedestrian deaths
– 0 bicyclist deaths
– 1 death involving drunk drivers
– No roads with at least five fatalities
GSpics // Wikimedia Commons
#13. Garfield County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 19.6 per 100K people (#770 nationally, 12 deaths)
– 1 pedestrian death
– 1 bicyclist death
– 6 deaths involving drunk drivers
– No roads with at least five fatalities
David Shankbone // Wikimedia Commons
#12. Teller County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 20.3 per 100K people (#742 nationally, 5 deaths)
– 0 pedestrian deaths
– 0 bicyclist deaths
– 0 deaths involving drunk drivers
– No roads with at least five fatalities
Acutemi // Wikimedia Commons
#11. Logan County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 23.0 per 100K people (#649 nationally, 5 deaths)
– 0 pedestrian deaths
– 0 bicyclist deaths
– 2 deaths involving drunk drivers
– No roads with at least five fatalities
Originalgum // Wikimedia Commons
#10. Delta County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 25.7 per 100K people (#554 nationally, 8 deaths)
– 1 pedestrian death
– 0 bicyclist deaths
– 1 death involving drunk drivers
– No roads with at least five fatalities
Thomson200 // Wikimedia Commons
#9. Park County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 28.8 per 100K people (#447 nationally, 5 deaths)
– 0 pedestrian deaths
– 0 bicyclist deaths
– 0 deaths involving drunk drivers
– No roads with at least five fatalities
Milan Suvajac // Wikimedia Commons
#8. Alamosa County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 30.5 per 100K people (#401 nationally, 5 deaths)
– 1 pedestrian death
– 0 bicyclist deaths
– 0 deaths involving drunk drivers
– No roads with at least five fatalities
Jeffrey Beall // Wikimedia Commons
#7. Morgan County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 34.6 per 100K people (#322 nationally, 10 deaths)
– 2 pedestrian deaths
– 0 bicyclist deaths
– 4 deaths involving drunk drivers
– No roads with at least five fatalities
The Greater Southwestern Exploration Company from Long Beach, California, United States // Wikimedia Commons
#6. Gunnison County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 71.2 per 100K people (#59 nationally, 12 deaths)
– 0 pedestrian deaths
– 0 bicyclist deaths
– 5 deaths involving drunk drivers
– Road with most fatalities: US-50 (7 fatalities)
Ammodramus // Wikimedia Commons
#5. Lincoln County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 88.8 per 100K people (#35 nationally, 5 deaths)
– 0 pedestrian deaths
– 0 bicyclist deaths
– 0 deaths involving drunk drivers
– No roads with at least five fatalities
Jeffrey Beall // Wikimedia Commons
#4. Huerfano County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 103.1 per 100K people (#24 nationally, 7 deaths)
– 0 pedestrian deaths
– 0 bicyclist deaths
– 2 deaths involving drunk drivers
– No roads with at least five fatalities
Jeffrey Beall // Wikimedia Commons
#3. Washington County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 103.4 per 100K people (#22 nationally, 5 deaths)
– 0 pedestrian deaths
– 0 bicyclist deaths
– 2 deaths involving drunk drivers
– No roads with at least five fatalities
Jeffrey Beall // Wikimedia Commons
#2. Custer County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 105.9 per 100K people (#20 nationally, 5 deaths)
– 1 pedestrian death
– 0 bicyclist deaths
– 1 death involving drunk drivers
– No roads with at least five fatalities
Aualliso // Wikimedia Commons
#1. Cheyenne County, Colorado
– Motor vehicle crash fatalities: 591.4 per 100K people (#1 nationally, 10 deaths)
– 0 pedestrian deaths
– 0 bicyclist deaths
– 1 death involving drunk drivers
– Road with most fatalities: US-40 (9 fatalities)
