Abstract This investigation aimed to identify the main risk factors for the occurrence of traffic accidents that involve vulnerable non-motorized users (V.N.M.U.) in the city of Manizales. To do so, a descriptive analysis of the accidents that involved pedestrians and cyclists in the city, between January 2008 and July 2013, was performed. A calculation of the odds ratio was also accomplished to quantify the risk that pedestrians have of dying in a traffic accident in Manizales. Finally an observational study of pedestrian infrastructure was performed in the critical areas for the occurrence of traffic accidents with vulnerable non-motorized users in the city, with the purpose of bringing forward intervention measures to decrease the exposure to the identified risk factors.