Ten years ago, San Diego adopted a goal of zero traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2025. But traffic deaths have actually increased over the past decade, and a new report offers some explanations why.
The nonprofit think tank Circulate San Diego on Tuesday released "Vision Zero At Ten: Struggling Forward in a Safety Crisis." Their main conclusion: Traffic deaths have gone up since 2015, mainly due to an increase in pedestrian deaths.
"This reflects a broader national increase, driven by factors like larger vehicle use, high-speed incidents, and insufficient street lighting," the report states. "San Diego’s proactive measures such as traffic calming and increased crosswalk visibility have not been enough to counteract that national trend."
Will Moore, policy counsel for Circulate San Diego and the report's lead author, said at a press conference Tuesday that the city has done a good job incorporating traffic safety into its infrastructure planning. But while more pedestrian safety projects are in the pipeline, he said, San Diego has not acted with enough urgency or dedicated enough resources to getting them built.
"Good job, but not good enough," Moore said. "We need to redouble our efforts and implement the good plans that we've made."
Among the report's recommendations are a dramatic increase in spending on traffic safety infrastructure and greater use of "quick-build" projects, which modify a street's design using paint and flexible bollards rather than concrete and asphalt.
The report also recommends San Diego consider automated traffic enforcement technology such as speed cameras and red light cameras, which can be cheaper and less susceptible to racial bias than relying on police officers writing citations.
Also at the press conference were volunteers with Families for Safe Streets San Diego, a group made up of people who have lost loved ones to traffic deaths. Michelle Gonzalez joined the group last year after her sister Andrea was killed while biking by a school in Philadelphia.
"In life my sister advocated for pedestrian and cyclist dignity, and for safety, and for alternative and sustainable means of transportation," Gonzalez said. "After her death, I took it on me to continue her work."
Gonzalez lives in the Otay Mesa-Nestor community and frequently bikes on Palm Avenue, a high-speed six-lane highway between San Diego and Imperial Beach. She said the street is in dire need of bike infrastructure.
"I actually think that there is plenty of room on Palm Avenue to just add a three-foot strip for cyclists to be seen and protected," Gonzalez said.
