A 35-year-old man died Friday night after he was struck by two separate vehicles while crossing South Peoria Street in Aurora, just south of East Tennessee Avenue. The man was hit around 8:15 p.m. as he attempted a mid-block crossing, first by a vehicle heading south, then by a second vehicle after he was thrown into the northbound lanes. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to The Denver Post, both drivers remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators following the crash. The Arapahoe County Coroner's Office is expected to formally identify the man, though that release had not been made as of the report.
A Corridor Already Under Scrutiny
South Peoria Street has drawn attention from Aurora traffic enforcement before. Automated speed enforcement cameras installed along the 400 block of the street recorded 2,781 speed citations after citations began on December 18, 2025; the warning-only rollout ran from November 17 to December 17, 2025, according to CBS News, underscoring how fast traffic tends to move along the arterial corridor. The same stretch of Aurora was the site of a fatal DUI-related pedestrian crash near South Peoria Street and South Parker Road in 2024, when a driver was charged with vehicular homicide, as Hoodline reported in its earlier coverage of that case.
A Statewide Surge in Pedestrian Deaths
The crash lands amid a documented rise in pedestrian fatalities across Colorado. In 2025, 127 pedestrians were killed on the state's roadways — nearly double the figure recorded a decade earlier — meaning pedestrians now account for close to one-fifth of all traffic deaths statewide, per the Colorado Department of Transportation. Arapahoe County, which includes much of Aurora, recorded 79 pedestrian fatalities between 2020 and 2025, placing it among the state's five deadliest counties for pedestrians, the same agency reported.
A separate CDOT campaign statement says more than 70% of pedestrian deaths happen after dark, a condition that matches Friday night's crash. The agency has also flagged speed as a major factor statewide, reporting that speeding contributed to 234 traffic fatalities in Colorado in 2025, or 33% of all traffic deaths, and that overall traffic fatalities reached 701 last year, up from 689 in 2024.
Legal Questions Around Mid-Block Crossings
Colorado law places specific obligations on pedestrians who cross outside marked or unmarked crosswalks. Under Colorado Revised Statute § 42-4-803, pedestrians crossing at any point other than a crosswalk are required to yield the right-of-way to oncoming vehicles, according to the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure.
That does not necessarily resolve questions of civil liability. Under Colorado's modified comparative negligence statute, C.R.S. § 13-21-111, fault in pedestrian crashes is allocated between drivers and pedestrians even in mid-block crossing cases, according to Jordan Law, which notes that pedestrians can still pursue damages if their share of fault is found to be below 50 percent.
No further details about the identities of the drivers involved in Friday's crash have been released, and the investigation remains active.
