By Scott O’Sullivan, Founder, Rider Justice

Motorcyclists are getting hurt and killed on Denver’s roads. It’s a fact. It’s a tragedy. It’s unacceptable.

But it’s nearly impossible to figure out how bad our streets are because the city of Denver hasn’t built an interactive map that allows you to look at accidents street-by-street.

So, I decided to do it myself.

As luck would have it, my brother-in-law, Andrew Russette, is a data geek and he was able to access Denver’s daily accident statistics using the Denver Open Data Catalog. He built a very dynamic, interactive map – the Denver Accident Map – which allows you to drill down by month (within the last 12 months) and all the way down to the intersection closest to where you live.

I looked up the May 2018 accidents within a four-block radius of my office and discovered:

  • 5 hit-and-runs
  • 10 traffic accidents

You can bet I’m going to show my kids, who walk to school, which intersections look the most dangerous.

You can also use the map to learn about some of the more alarming trends we’re seeing in Denver. For example, in May 2018:

  • There were 6 fatalities, making it the deadliest May since 2012
  • There were 55 accidents involving DUI/DUID
  • Wednesdays saw the most accidents, with 237 accidents on Wednesdays in May
  • There were 547 hit-and-run accidents (That’s crazy!) 5 pm is the most dangerous time to drive, with 123 accidents occurring at 5pm during the month of May

How could this keep motorcyclists safe? Well, using this information, you might decide to NEVER ride on a Wednesday at 5 p.m. since your odds of getting in an accident skyrocket. And, if you see an intersection that seems to attract crashes, avoid it altogether. Take a side street.

Bottom line: We knew that Denver’s accident data could be used to inform people and, ultimately, to make our streets safer. We hope you enjoy using it and we’d love your feedback.