In the last week of July, Kyle Wolfe received a ticket from the Denver Police Department after being hit by an SUV while trying to cross the street in his wheelchair. The incident occurred months after Denver released a new action plan, called Vision Zero, designed to eliminate traffic deaths and reduce injuries caused by the transportation system.
Wolfe was crossing the street in downtown Denver when some items he was carrying fell off his lap. He says that stopping to pick them up delayed his crossing and he wasn’t able to get out of the street before the light turned. He was then hit by the SUV, which left him bruised and damaged his wheelchair.
The Denver PD cited Wolfe for “Disobeying a Traffic Control Device.” The driver of the SUV was not cited. In an email response to questions, the Denver PD claimed that “The investigation revealed that Wolfe was crossing the street outside of a crosswalk in a designated bicycle lane and against the crossing signal.”