Fatal Crashes Only
This report covers fatal crashes only, from the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System — the federal census of every crash on a US public road that killed someone within 30 days. It does not include injury or property-damage-only crashes, and its totals are not comparable with the all-severity crash reports published elsewhere on this site.
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YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · COLORADO · SEPTEMBER 2023
Purpose: Machine-readable JSON endpoint for AI agents, LLMs, researchers, and programmatic consumers. Returns all underlying crash data and AI-generated commentary without HTML.
Authentication: None required. Public endpoint.
GET: https://thatcarhitme.com/api/crash-data/reports/data/colorado/fatal/statewide/september-2023-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
69 CRASHES IN
COLORADO
SEPTEMBER 2023
Colorado experienced a decrease in fatal crashes, with 69 fatal crashes in September 2023 compared to 81 in September 2022, marking a 14.81% reduction. The number of persons killed also decreased from 88 to 74, a 15.91% decrease. A notable shift was the decrease in single-vehicle fatal crashes from 47 to 31.
69
▼ -14.8%was 81
Total Crash Events
74
▼ -15.9%was 88
Persons Killed
60
▲ 5.3%was 57
Persons Injured
5
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Note: "Persons Killed" (74) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (69) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities.
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Fatal crashes in Colorado decreased by 12, from 81 in September 2022 to 69 in September 2023, representing a 14.81% reduction. Concurrently, total fatalities decreased by 14, from 88 to 74, a 15.91% decrease, while total injuries increased by 3, from 57 to 60, a 5.26% increase.
5
Hit-and-Run Crashes — September 2023
▼ 0.0% vs prior (5)
The number of hit-and-run fatal crashes remained constant at 5 in both September 2022 and September 2023. However, the hit-and-run rate increased from 6.2% of all fatal crashes in the prior period to 7.2% in the current period.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
14
Pedestrians Killed
1
Cyclists Killed
59
Motorists Killed
0
Pedestrians Injured
0
Cyclists Injured
60
Motorists Injured
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)
When Crashes Happen
The peak day for fatal crashes remained Saturday in both periods, though the count decreased from 20 in September 2022 to 18 in September 2023. The peak hour for fatal crashes shifted from 7 p.m. with 6 fatal crashes in September 2022 to 2 a.m. with 6 fatal crashes in September 2023.
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Road & Environmental Conditions
Fatal crashes occurring in clear weather conditions decreased from 72 in September 2022 to 61 in September 2023. Similarly, fatal crashes during rain decreased from 9 to 2. Fatal crashes occurring in daylight conditions also saw a reduction from 48 to 33.
Weather
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Lighting condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
Ford fatal crashes increased from 12 in September 2022 to 14 in September 2023, while Toyota fatal crashes decreased from 12 to 7. Harley-Davidson fatal crashes saw a notable decrease from 12 to 3, and Honda fatal crashes increased slightly from 10 to 11.
Top Vehicle Makes (113 vehicles)
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Vehicle unit records
6 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (191 persons with recorded sex)
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
Fatal crashes occurring in 35 mph zones decreased from 17 in September 2022 to 13 in September 2023. Fatal crashes in 45 mph zones also decreased from 14 to 9, while those in 75 mph zones decreased from 8 to 4. Fatal crashes in 55 mph zones increased slightly from 10 to 11.
Fatal crashes by zone: 25 mph: 3 of 3 (100%) · 30 mph: 8 of 8 (100%) · 35 mph: 13 of 13 (100%) · 40 mph: 11 of 11 (100%) · 45 mph: 9 of 9 (100%) · 50 mph: 1 of 1 (100%) · 55 mph: 11 of 11 (100%) · 60 mph: 1 of 1 (100%) · 65 mph: 8 of 8 (100%) · 75 mph: 4 of 4 (100%)
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Posted speed limit at crash location
Manner of Collision
The dominant manner of fatal collision, 'The First Harmful Event was Not a Collision with a Motor Vehicle in Transport,' decreased from 52 fatal crashes in September 2022 to 35 in September 2023. Angle collisions also decreased slightly from 17 fatal crashes in the prior period to 16 in the current period.
Manner of Collision
"Other" combines 1 smaller categories (1 records): Sideswipe - Opposite Direction (1).
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Vehicle Type
Fatal crashes involving two-wheel motorcycles decreased from 25 in September 2022 to 17 in September 2023. Fatal crashes involving 4-door sedans also decreased from 24 to 16, while compact utility vehicle fatal crashes increased from 18 to 23. Truck-tractor fatal crashes increased from 4 to 8.
Vehicle Type
Showing top 9 of 18 reported. 9 additional (12 total) not shown: Medium/heavy Pickup (GVWR greater than 10,000 lbs.), Transit Bus (City Bus), Convertible(excludes sun-roof,t-bar), Utility station wagon (includes suburban limousines, Suburban, Travellall, Grand Wagoneer), 3-door/2-door hatchback, School Bus, Single-unit straight truck or Cab-Chassis (GVWR greater than 26,000 lbs.), Single-unit straight truck or Cab-Chassis (GVWR range 10,001 to 19,500 lbs.), 2-door sedan,hardtop,coupe.
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Vehicle unit records
Rural vs Urban
Urban fatal crashes decreased from 50 in September 2022 to 48 in September 2023. Rural fatal crashes saw a more significant decrease, from 30 to 21, resulting in a reduced rural share of fatal crashes from 37.5% to 30.4%.
Rural vs Urban
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Roadway Functional Class
Fatal crashes on Principal Arterial roads increased from 24 in September 2022 to 28 in September 2023. Conversely, fatal crashes on Minor Arterial roads decreased from 16 to 13, and Interstate fatal crashes decreased from 11 to 6.
Roadway Functional Class
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Roadway Ownership
Fatal crashes on State Highway Agency-owned roads decreased from 42 in September 2022 to 37 in September 2023. Fatal crashes on City or Municipal Highway Agency roads decreased from 23 to 22, and County Highway Agency roads saw a decrease from 14 to 10 fatal crashes.
Roadway Ownership
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Person Type
The number of drivers involved in fatal crashes decreased from 118 in September 2022 to 113 in September 2023. Pedestrian involvement in fatal crashes increased from 10 to 14, while bicyclist involvement decreased from 3 to 1.
Person Type
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Person Injury Severity
Fatal injuries (K) decreased from 88 in September 2022 to 74 in September 2023. Serious injuries (A) increased from 27 to 30, and minor injuries (B) increased from 15 to 21. Possible injuries (C) decreased from 15 to 9.
Person Injury Severity
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Occupant Safety Equipment
The number of persons using shoulder and lap belts in fatal crashes decreased from 109 in September 2022 to 103 in September 2023. Concurrently, the number of persons reported with no safety equipment used decreased from 66 to 57.
Occupant Safety Equipment
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Point of Impact
The dominant point of impact, the '12 Clock Point' (front), decreased from 67 fatal crashes in September 2022 to 60 in September 2023. 'Non-Collision' fatal crashes also decreased from 14 to 7, while '6 Clock Point' (rear) fatal crashes increased from 4 to 8.
Point of Impact
"Other" combines 9 smaller categories (15 records): 10 Clock Point (3), 11 Clock Point (3), 8 Clock Point (2), Left-Back Side (2), Other Objects or Person Set-In-Motion (1), 7 Clock Point (1), 1 Clock Point (1), Right-Front Side (1), 9 Clock Point (1).
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Vehicle unit records
Vehicles Per Crash
Single-vehicle fatal crashes decreased from 47 in September 2022 to 31 in September 2023. Two-vehicle fatal crashes saw a slight increase from 29 to 31, and fatal crashes involving three vehicles increased from 2 to 7.
Vehicles Per Crash
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Data Sources & Methodology
Primary Data Source
All crash data in this report is sourced from NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes), accessed programmatically via the NHTSA FARS Open Data API (SODA). This dataset contains official police-reported motor vehicle traffic crash records maintained by the reporting jurisdiction's law enforcement agency. Records are published to the open data portal by the municipality and are subject to the portal's terms of use.
Data Retrieval
- Access method: NHTSA FARS Open Data API (SoQL queries)
- Data format: Structured JSON via REST API
- Record types queried: Crash events, person records, and vehicle unit records
- Date filter applied: 2023-09-01 through 2023-09-30
- Report generated: August 5, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2023-09-01 through 2023-09-30 (30 days)
- Geographic scope: Colorado
- Total crash records analyzed: 69
- Total persons involved: 192
- Total vehicles involved: 113
Analytical Methodology
- Severity classification: Uses the KABCO injury scale (K=Fatal, A=Incapacitating injury, B=Non-incapacitating injury, C=Possible injury, O=No injury/property damage only), the standard classification in U.S. Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC). Severity is assigned per crash event based on the most severe injury in that crash. A single fatal crash (K) may involve multiple fatalities; therefore the "Persons Killed" count in the headline KPIs may differ from the "Fatal" crash count in the severity breakdown.
- Contributing factors: Reflect the officer-determined primary contributory cause recorded at the time of the crash report. These are preliminary determinations and may not reflect final investigation findings.
- Hit-and-run classification: Based on the hit-and-run indicator field in the official crash report, as determined by the responding officer at the scene.
- Temporal analysis: Day-of-week and hour-of-day distributions are computed from the crash date/time timestamp in each record.
- Demographics: Age and sex distributions are drawn from person-level records linked to each crash event. A single crash may involve multiple persons.
- Vehicle data: Make information is drawn from vehicle unit records linked to each crash event.
- AI commentary: Narrative sections are generated by Google Gemini (large language model) based on the structured data. Commentary is descriptive, not predictive, and should not be interpreted as expert opinion.
Limitations & Disclaimers
- Only crashes reported to and documented by law enforcement are included. Minor incidents, unreported crashes, and near-misses are not captured in this dataset.
- Data reflects conditions at the time of the initial police report and may be subject to subsequent corrections, reclassifications, or supplements by the reporting agency.
- Open data portal records may experience a publication lag - recently occurring crashes may not yet appear in the dataset at the time of report generation.
- AI-generated commentary is produced by a large language model and is intended to highlight patterns in the data. It does not constitute legal, medical, or professional analysis.
- Percentages are calculated from reported data and are subject to rounding.
Non-Affiliation Disclosure
This report is produced independently by ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in partnership with any law enforcement agency, municipal government, state department of transportation, or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Data is sourced from publicly available government open data portals.
Data License
The underlying crash data is provided under the municipality's Open Data Terms of Use and is made available to the public for unrestricted use. This analysis and report is © 2026 Injuria.ai and may be cited with attribution using the suggested citation below.
Corrections & Feedback
If you believe any data in this report is inaccurate or have questions about our methodology, please contact: data@injuria.ai. We are committed to accuracy and will issue corrections promptly.
Suggested Citation
ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). "Colorado Crash Intelligence Report: September 2023." Published August 5, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30. Data source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes), NHTSA FARS Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/colorado/fatal/statewide/september-2023-report
About the Publisher
ThatCarHitMe.com is a crash data intelligence platform developed by Injuria.ai, a legal technology company specializing in traffic safety analytics. We aggregate and analyze publicly available government crash data to produce structured intelligence reports for communities, researchers, journalists, and legal professionals. Our reports combine programmatic data retrieval from official open data portals with AI-assisted narrative analysis.
Questions about this report's data or methodology: data@injuria.ai
ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company
ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
Crash Data Intelligence
Data: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · NHTSA FARS
Period: 2023-09-01 – 2023-09-30
Generated: August 5, 2026 · All rights reserved
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