Jaime Leonen was one of 23 people who died while walking in San Diego last year, and one of 54 people who died in traffic crashes. Circulate San Diego and Vision Zero Coalition partners BikeSD and AARP honored these lives in a press conference Tuesday, February 2 by placing 54 pairs of shoes on the steps of Civic Plaza. The numbers for 2015 represent a 17% increase in deaths for all modes, and a particularly alarming increase of 42% in serious injuries for pedestrians.

Circulate San Diego  published its report "2015 Regional Walk Scorecard," revealing and ranking the walkability and active transportation progress among the 18 cities in the San Diego region. 

Read the report online here.

Like many Americans, San Diegans increasingly demand safe, walkable neighborhoods. From City Heights to Carmel Valley, El Cajon to Solana Beach, Lemon Grove to Escondido, families contact our office to learn how to make their streets more walkable.

The San Diego Regional Walk Scorecard measures what cities in the region are doing to answer the call for improved walkability. Circulate San Diego’s predecessor organization WalkSanDiego created the Scorecard in 2012 to raise awareness of the actions that can improve walkability, and to foster healthy competition among cities in the San Diego region to champion walk-friendly policies and projects. This 2015 report is the third scorecard to be released.

Zero traffic deaths in San Diego 

Learn about our Crash Not Accident campaign.

Read our groundbreaking report on Vision Zero in San Diego (2015).

Read our sub-regional report on Vision Zero in South County (2019). 

Read our sub-regional report on Vision Zero in East County (2019). 

Read our sub-regional report on Vision Zero in North County (2019). 

Read our 5 year update, "Hope for Vision Zero" for Vision Zero in San Diego (2021). 

Our streets should be safe, no matter where we go or how we get there.

On average, one person is injured every day in San Diego while driving, walking or bicycling.  Traffic violence is now on par and exceeding the homicide rate in San Diego, and traffic collisions are the leading cause of accidental death for children ages 0 to 13 in the City.  In 2016, 2,155 were injured and 107 people were killed walking and biking on our roads in San Diego County.  

The Solution

Vision Zero is a data-driven approach to eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries on our roadways, within a specific time frame, by increasing safe, healthy, and equitable mobility. 

Vision Zero strategies focus on: 

• Reducing speed limits and prioritizing the most vulnerable road users
• Redesigning streets to make them accessible for people of all ages and abilities 
• Raising awareness and providing education about unsafe behaviors on the road 

No loss of life is acceptable. Vision Zero will prevent injuries and save lives.

As a great city we owe it to San Diegans to provide street design that brings safety, predictability, and protection from human error, along with community education and police enforcement. Working with City leaders and residents of all ages and backgrounds to prevent injuries and eliminate death on our streets is the fundamental goal of Vision Zero. Studies in San Diego and other cities show these changes will also lead to economic and sustainability gains.

Zero deaths is an ambitious but attainable goal. Cities like New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles have already started working towards the same goal -- with success. If it works in these cities, it can work in San Diego, too. San Diego can take specific actions towards Vision Zero.

Read more about the national Vision Zero movement.

Fix the Fatal Fifteen - Success!

Read about our success advocating for improvements to the fifteen most dangerous intersections in San Diego through our Fix the Fatal Fifteen intersections campaign.

Growing List of Supporters

Circulate is fortunate to have the support of the following organizations for Vision Zero:

On Wednesday, San Diego's 12th pedestrian was killed in 2015, the 2nd in four days. We know very little about this most recent victim, a woman who died after a Nissan Altima collided with her at an intersection on Ingraham Street around 9:30pm in Mission Bay Park. Two days earlier, San Diego's 11th pedestrian fatality occurred in front of the Convention Center downtown, this time a woman between 40 and 50 years old. The driver of a small silver Ford traveling westbound on Harbor Drive hit her and fled the scene; the suspect is still on the loose.

Collisions Involving Bicyclists and Pedestrians Resulting in an Injury (San Diego Police Department, June 2015)

Injuries on the Rise
Recent data from the Police Department shows that collisions for people walking and biking in the City have increased almost 30%. Collisions resulting in injury have increase 32%.

These deaths and injuries are preventable. In June, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, Mayor Pro Tem Marti Emerald, Councilmember Mark Kersey, Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman, and others announced their support for Vision Zero. At the heart of Vision Zero is the belief that death and injury on city streets is unacceptable, and more importantly, is preventable.

The support of San Diego's civic leaders is an important first step: this work could not be done without the leadership and support that Mayor Faulconer and Councilmembers Emerald, Kersey, and others have shown. However, without action their support will not stop the daily carnage on our streets.

As detailed in our Vision Zero white paper, one person is seriously injured or killed while walking, biking, or driving in the City of San Diego. That means on average, 25 people have died or been seriously injured getting from point A to B in San Diego since our leadership voiced their support for ending all traffic deaths.

Next Steps
After an August recess, the City's Infrastructure Committee will review a Vision Zero resolution in their September meeting. The resolution will recognize the problem of traffic deaths and form an advisory committee to create a strategy to eliminate traffic deaths in 10 years. Getting the resolution passed from the Infrastructure Committee to the City Council is the crucial next step to make Vision Zero a reality.