Pedestrian Hit Bumps Up Driver Safety
Nicolas Kruse and his mother Shenna Nichols near one of the Dynamic Speed Monitoring Displays on Mexico Avenue near Cook Park in Denver.
Nicholas Kruse plays hard. He is involved in several sports and is accustomed to knocks, bumps, and big scrapes. What the thirteen-year-old wasn’t ready for was a blindside hit at 8 a.m. while on his way to the school bus stop by a car driving onto the sidewalk on Colorado Ave. The car clipped his thigh and launched him forward. He finished with his head hitting the ground.
“We are grateful that he is ok, it could have been much worse,” said Shenna Nichols, Nicholas’s mother, who is a nurse with Intermountain Health. “But he thought about others who may not be so lucky: his younger friends, an elderly person, or a neighbor walking with their dog. He felt he had to do something.”
Nicholas shared his story at the Cook Park Neighborhood Association meeting in February, the same month he was hit. As a result, the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) and the Denver Police Department (DPD) are working together to increase safety measures in our area.
Dynamic Speed Monitoring Displays (DSMD) were installed on Mexico Ave. and Colorado Ave. The technology measures speed and then relays this information to the driver in real time. Federal Highway Administration reports these signs increase driver awareness and enhance pedestrian safety, with about 80% of drivers reducing their speed upon seeing it displayed. The residential speed limit is 20 mph, unless otherwise noted.
The data collected from the DSMD may help DOTI and the city determine if other traffic calming measures are needed. An additional stop sign at the intersection of Mexico Ave and Colorado Dr.—near the Cook Park playground—is already slated for installation.
Dynamic policing is also on, as DPD has recently written 60 tickets for speeding and failure to obey stop signs in our area. In addition, DPD invites residents to help collect data on driving habits by reporting non-emergency traffic violations: 720-913-2000.
So, take the time to slow down and read the (dynamic speed) signs while driving near Cook Park. Be safe!