Halloween is Saturday, the clocks fall back the next morning, and the Colorado Department of Transportation has spent the fall telling anyone who will listen that this is the stretch of the year when walking gets dangerous. In a Sept. 29, 2026 release, CDOT said nearly 60 percent of all pedestrian fatalities in Colorado over the past five years happened between September and February, and that October, with 74 deaths from 2021 through 2025, was the single worst month. The state recorded 131 pedestrian deaths in 2025, more than double the 64 in 2015. If you or your kid is hit by a car on a Denver street this season, here is what Colorado law actually says, and what the first days decide.
Who has the right of way in Colorado
CDOT’s plain-language summary of state law is direct: pedestrians have the right of way in crosswalks and at intersections when the signal says it is safe to cross, and that includes intersections with no painted lines, because an unmarked crosswalk still counts. Drivers are legally required to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, which is why CDOT tells drivers to stop before the crosswalk and never in it. The Julian Bendinelli Law Firm’s pedestrian crash page adds the second half of the rule that insurers tend to skip: a driver must use due care to avoid hitting a person whether or not that person is in a crosswalk.
Pedestrians have duties too. CDOT says it is illegal to cross outside a crosswalk between two adjacent signalized intersections, that a person crossing outside a marked or unmarked crosswalk must yield to every vehicle, and that walkers must use the sidewalk when one exists. Those rules matter after a crash, because they are the first thing the driver’s insurance company will reach for.
What the 50 percent rule means if you were partly at fault
Colorado uses modified comparative negligence. As the Denver firm explains on its page on Colorado injury deadlines and the 50 percent rule, a judge or jury assigns each party a percentage of fault, your award is reduced by your share, and if your share reaches 50 percent or more you may recover nothing. Its example: $100,000 in damages with 20 percent fault becomes $80,000. For a pedestrian, that is the whole fight. Crossing mid-block in dark clothing at 6:45 p.m. does not automatically end a claim; the firm’s pedestrian page puts it as something that will hinder your claim but may not end it. What decides the percentage is evidence, which is why the next section matters more than the law.
What to do in the first week
Call 911 and get checked the same day, even for a hit that felt minor; adrenaline hides a lot, and a gap between the crash and the first medical visit is another thing insurers use. Get the driver’s name, plate and insurance before anyone leaves. Then move fast on video. The firm’s pedestrian page warns that nearby camera footage is often gone within weeks, and most Denver intersections and storefronts record over their files on a short loop. Signal timing data, witness contacts and the police report round out the file. If the driver fled, do not assume you are out of luck: a pedestrian may have uninsured motorist coverage under their own auto policy, depending on its terms, a point we covered in more detail in our piece on being hit by an uninsured driver in Colorado.
The deadlines
Two clocks start the night of the crash. Most Colorado injury claims that involve a motor vehicle must be filed within three years, and many other injury claims within two. The short one catches people: if a government vehicle was involved, or a dangerous road condition such as a dark, broken crosswalk signal contributed, the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act generally requires written notice within 182 days, and the firm’s page says missing that notice can bar the claim entirely. In Denver that is not a rare fact pattern; RTD buses, city trucks and snowplows share every arterial with trick-or-treaters.
Why this week in particular
CDOT’s release explains the seasonal spike without drama. Denver loses roughly 70 minutes of daylight in September alone, so more of the evening commute happens in low light, and the end of daylight saving time on Nov. 1 shoves sunset back another hour. At a CDOT demonstration the day before the release, a staffer in ordinary clothes became noticeably harder to see between 6:50 and 7:05 p.m. The state’s advice for walkers is unglamorous: use crosswalks, wear light colors, walk where the streetlights are, stay off the phone while crossing, and make eye contact with the driver before stepping off the curb. For drivers it is slower turns, headlights on and a full stop before the crosswalk. Colorado’s pedestrian deaths were running 24 percent below last year’s pace as of late September, according to the Colorado State Patrol chief quoted in the release, which is the first good news on this subject in a decade and worth protecting on the busiest walking night of the year.
Disclosure: Julian Bendinelli Law Firm is a Holland Health Marketing client. You can read more about the firm in our Local Business Spotlight.
Sources
- CDOT news release, Sept. 29, 2026: nearly 60 percent of pedestrian deaths in Colorado occurred during the fall and winter months
- CDOT, Information for Pedestrians: safety tips and Colorado law
- Julian Bendinelli Law Firm: pedestrian crashes
- Julian Bendinelli Law Firm: Colorado injury deadlines and the 50 percent rule
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This is general information, not legal advice.
