DENVER (KDVR) — A deadly nationwide trend is impacting the metro at an elevated rate compared to other states and now a local forensic psychologist has a theory on what is causing it.
As of Feb. 14, there have been seven traffic deaths in Denver since the start of 2022, the most recent of which occurred on Feb. 9. In all of 2021, 84 people died on Denver streets, but it is not the only Colorado city seeing an increase in traffic fatalities.
According to Denver’s Vision Zero Crash Data Dashboard, 2021 proved to be an all-time high for traffic death and injury crashes. In addition to the 84 traffic fatalities that happened in Denver during 2021, 381 people were also seriously injured.
To be specific, 40 people died as a passenger or driver of a vehicle, 15 motorcyclists and four bicyclists died, and 23 pedestrians were killed during 2021. The Crash Data Dashboard revealed the most deadly days to be on Colorado roads are Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
FOX31 spoke with forensic psychologist professor Dr. Kim Gorgens is unsurprised by these trends and said anxiety and stress levels can contribute to distractions and anger behind the wheel.
“Our frustration with life, COVID, restrictions and requirements and masking requirements can bubble over into other settings,” Gorgens said.
According to an analysis by car insurer QuoteWizard, Colorado saw a 15% increase in fatal car crashes since 2020, while the national average increased by 16% during the same time period.
A New York Times article cited pandemic stressors as the reason for an increased number of deadly crashes.
“You’re also kind of anonymous in your car, right? We become internet trolls on the road,” Gorgens said. “We’re driving differently and anger is driving those road-based interactions. The other piece of this though is we’re rusty, I think we have been alone for so long that our sense of courtesy and civility is rusty.”
After isolating and social distancing for two years, Gorgens said we need to reconnect with each other.
“As far as the anger piece and the sense of ongoing angst that we all share; there’s a way that this kind of conversation, where we acknowledge it and normalize it and we recognize that it’s an experience we’re all sharing in real-time,” Gorgens said.
Gorgens gave some advice on how to be safer behind the wheel.
Easy de-escalation techniques like basic mindfulness and deep breathing exercises are what Gorgens advises. A helpful technique to use is called box breathing, which is where you take a breath in for four seconds before exhaling slowly for four seconds.
“That does a lot and with brain research, you can see this actually playing out in real-time and to bring your heart rate down, to bring blood pressure down, to bring down all of those negative, angry cognitions the way that we are thinking about at the time or kind of irate with other people, so it can redirect the way that our thoughts are angled at that moment,” Gorgens said.
Another suggestion she suggests is to partake in grounding activities.
“Thinking about what are the sensations I have with my body right now? What are the sensations I have of what I can hear, what do I see with my eyes? What can I smell? It puts you back in your body in a way that you may have lost a sense of being angered past the point of being able to manage that impulse,” Gorgens said.
