San Diego ranks near bottom for street safety
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Rosecrans Street in the Midway District. Photo: K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images
The San Diego region ranks among the bottom of cities with the safest streets, per StreetLight Data's new U.S. Safe Streets Index.
The big picture: Street safety has come into the spotlight after drivers have hit and killed multiple children in San Diego in the last year, and some residents complain it takes a pedestrian death for the city to make a street safer.
- The new index offers fresh insight into how our city compares to other big cities.
By the numbers: The San Diego region ranks 75 out of the 100 biggest metros for overall road safety, according to the report.
- It ranked near the bottom nationally, 91/100, for speed differential risk, meaning the speed variation between slow and fast drivers.
- It ranked below average for speed-based pedestrian risk, meaning pedestrian miles traveled on roadways with a high volume of cars and average speeds of 30 mph or more.
- San Diego also ranked below average for residential speeding.
Zoom in: The report is based on five key factors: vehicle miles traveled, different speeds between vehicles, speed-based pedestrian risk, speeding in residential zones and truck activity.
- San Diego scored in the middle or above average for vehicle miles traveled and truck activity.
- The New York, Boston and Portland, Oregon, metros have the country's safest roadways, according to the scoring system.
"Boston is the only metro studied that scores in the top 30 across all five safety factors," StreetLight said.
- It cites traffic-calming measures plus the city's older layout and sometimes snowy weather, which "may help keep speeds low and consistent."
- Only two big metros cracked the top 10 for safe residential speeds: Los Angeles and Miami.
Case in point: A car accident that killed an 11-year-old at a San Carlos intersection last October brought new attention to the challenges of making San Diego's streets safer.
- The crash happened after at least one resident had spent more than a year fruitlessly begging the city to address the dangerous intersection.
- City officials said it didn't meet the criteria for a stop sign or other traffic calming.
- After the boy died, the city added stop signs.
Residents in other parts of the city are also asking for traffic calming measures, but those are often denied for the same reasons.
What's next: The City Council will decide this month whether to lower the speed limit as part of the Citywide Speed Management Plan.
- The plan would reduce speed limits on 20% of roads and prioritize roads in school zones.
But the $2.4 million plan would need funding in next year's budget.