What is Colorado's road fatality rate?

Colorado has a road fatality rate of 12.2 per 100,000 population and 1.3 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 0.1% below the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in Colorado in 2023?

In 2023, Colorado recorded 720 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 5,829.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in Colorado?

The leading cause is nighttime, accounting for 44.8% of all fatalities (2,614 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in Colorado?

Road fatalities in Colorado are increasing with a +31.6% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 547 in 2015 to 720 in 2023.

How does Colorado compare to the national average for road safety?

Colorado's fatality rate of 12.2 per 100K is 0.1% lower than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, Colorado ranks #26 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of Colorado's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 31.3% of road fatalities in Colorado, representing 1,824 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 33.2% and pedestrian incidents for 13.8%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in Colorado?

In Colorado, urban roads account for more fatalities: 2,399 rural vs. 3,416 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 41.2% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Colorado road fatality profile

According to NHTSA FARS, Colorado ranks #26 of 51 by fatality rate. 720 traffic deaths in 2023, 12.2 per 100,000.

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

720
Deaths (2023): 12.2
Per 100k residents: Near average; 1.3
Per 100M VMT: -44
2022–2023 deaths

Higher alcohol-impaired share

Colorado ranks #11 of 51 by alcohol-impaired share (31.3%) - top-third alcohol involvement.

Colorado in the higher-alcohol third

According to NHTSA FARS, Colorado ranks #26 of 51 by fatality rate (12.2/100k vs U.S. 12.2); nighttime leads contributing factors.

#26 of 51
among US states by rate: 12.2/100k
2023 fatality rate: #22/51
by total FARS fatalities: Nighttime
leading contributing factor

720 2023 Fatalities, By Roadway Setting

63%

Urban 456 (63.3%)
Rural 264 (36.7%)

NHTSA fatality milepost

Milepost CO · Colorado #26 of 51 · 12.2/100k

Colorado · 12.2/100k · 720 in 2023 · #26 of 51

BOOK 12.2/100k
ALC #26 of 51
SPD 1.3/100M
PED 5,829 book
RUR near Nevada
VS-US 33.2% spd
PHOTO 13.8% ped
YOY -0.1% vs US

Stamps derive from this state's NHTSA FARS row (per-100k rate, corpus rank, VMT rate, fatality book, nearest-rate peer, alcohol/speeding/pedestrian shares, vs-national gap), not a trip-risk forecast. PlainRoadSafety is informational only. See our disclaimer. Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Read with methodology → · Understanding road fatality data → · States ranked →

Road Safety Index

36/100

Colorado

Benchmarked against all 51 states (50 states + DC) on fatality rate, exposure-adjusted rate, pedestrian and impaired-driving fatality share, and safety trend from NHTSA FARS, US Census Bureau, and FHWA sources, not enforcement, infrastructure spend, or road-condition ratings.

Fatality Rate C-

12.2/100k

Fatalities per 100,000 residents (NHTSA FARS + Census PEP population)

Exposure-Adjusted Rate D

1.32/100M VMT

Fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (NHTSA FARS + FHWA Highway Statistics)

Pedestrian Safety C-

13.8%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control F

31.3%

Share of fatalities that were alcohol-impaired (NHTSA FARS)

Safety Trend F

+31.6%

Change in fatalities over the reporting period; negative is declining (NHTSA FARS)

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in Colorado

After vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, Colorado's 2023 FARS first-harm leader is Pedestrian at 16.8%, a pedestrian-forward pattern relative to fixed-object states. Counts come from the NHTSA FARS accident microdata for 2023 (first harmful event, weather, light, route, and rural/urban setting), not from the seeded state rollup alone.

First harmful event

Motor Vehicle In-Transport 38.9% · 280
Pedestrian 16.8% · 121
Rollover/Overturn 13.3% · 96
Curb 4.7% · 34
Pedalcyclist 2.9% · 21

Light condition

Daylight 46.0% · 331
Dark - Lighted 28.9% · 208
Dark - Not Lighted 19.3% · 139
Dusk 3.5% · 25
Dawn 2.4% · 17

Roadway class

Not Signed 33.5% · 241
U.S. Highway 22.5% · 162
State Highway 21.3% · 153
Interstate 13.2% · 95
County 8.6% · 62

Weather at crash

Clear 82.1% · 591
Cloudy 9.9% · 71
Rain 3.1% · 22
Snow 1.9% · 14
Severe Crosswinds 0.8% · 6

Nebraska

12
Iowa

12
Colorado

12
Nevada

12
Delaware

13
Indiana

13

What this shows Colorado sits among the five nearest fatality-rate peers on the per-100k scale.

Nighttime

45
Unrestrained

45
Speeding

33
Alcohol-Impaired

31
Pedestrian

14
Distracted

11

What this shows Nighttime is the top contributing cause in Colorado, involved in 44.8% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Colorado vs all states by fatality rate

Where this state's deaths-per-100k sits among every state and D.C. on PlainRoadSafety

12 Around the middle a lower per-capita rate than 49% of 51 states

States and D.C., banded by fatality rate per 100,000 residents

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source NHTSA FARS over Census population · 2026-09-03

Colorado plotted against a representative sample of 26 of 51 states and D.C. by deaths per 100,000 residents (x) and deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (y). Dashed lines mark the national median across all 51, computed from the full corpus.

Colorado can rank differently on each axis: population density pushes the per-capita rate one way, and rural-highway commute length pushes the per-mile rate another. Hover or tap any point (including Colorado's own, highlighted) for its exact figures.

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

Between 2015 and 2023, road fatalities in Colorado increased by 31.6%, going from 547 to 720 annual deaths.

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	547	9.3	184	204	59
2016	608	10.3	215	192	79
2017	648	11.0	211	213	92
2018	632	10.8	211	187	89
2019	597	10.2	199	208	73
2020	622	10.6	219	262	87
2021	691	11.8	197	177	92
2022	764	13.0	226	257	108
2023	720	12.2	162	235	125

El Paso, Adams, and Denver concentrate Colorado deaths

The top three counties (El Paso, Adams, and Denver) hold 30.2% of Colorado's county fatality book (5,282 deaths across 64 counties).

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	EL PASO (41)	595	78	66.1	↑ increasing
2	ADAMS (1)	507	64	56.3	↑ increasing
3	DENVER (31)	493	76	54.8	↑ increasing
4	WELD (123)	447	58	49.7	↑ increasing
5	ARAPAHOE (5)	409	70	45.4	↑ increasing
6	JEFFERSON (59)	369	47	41.0	↑ increasing
7	LARIMER (69)	284	42	31.6	↑ increasing
8	PUEBLO (101)	253	40	28.1	↑ increasing
9	BOULDER (13)	213	28	23.7	↑ increasing
10	DOUGLAS (35)	175	22	19.4	↑ increasing
11	MESA (77)	144	21	16.0	↑ increasing
12	GARFIELD (45)	87	5	9.7	↔ stable
13	LA PLATA (67)	79	12	8.8	↑ increasing
14	MORGAN (87)	61	6	6.8	↑ increasing
15	FREMONT (43)	57	7	6.3	↔ stable
16	LOGAN (75)	46	6	5.1	↑ increasing
17	PARK (93)	46	7	5.1	↑ increasing
18	MONTEZUMA (83)	45	7	5.0	↑ increasing
19	DELTA (29)	44	6	4.9	↑ increasing
20	MONTROSE (85)	44	4	4.9	↔ stable

Showing top 20 of 64 counties by total fatalities.

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Nevada and Iowa are the nearest fatality-rate neighbours to Colorado at 12.2 per 100k.

6 of 50 other states are shown here, ranked by closeness to Colorado's fatality rate.

Nevada

12.2 per 100K

389 fatalities (2023)

Iowa

11.8 per 100K

377 fatalities (2023)

Nebraska

11.5 per 100K

227 fatalities (2023)

Delaware

13.1 per 100K

135 fatalities (2023)

Indiana

13.1 per 100K

898 fatalities (2023)

Kansas

13.2 per 100K

387 fatalities (2023)

El Paso-cluster counties and Colorado road data

Contextual links from this profile to rankings, tools, research, and peer geographies on PlainRoadSafety.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from official public datasets for Colorado (#26 of 51; volume #22/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →