Oakland traffic deaths rose in 2020
Despite reduced traffic during the pandemic, six more people died in Oakland traffic incidents in 2020 compared to the previous year, and communities of color continue to be hit the hardest, according to city data.
In 2020, 33 people were killed in trafficrelated incidents compared to 27 the prior year, according to a report presented to the City Council’s Public Works Committee Tuesday. The problem does not seem to be improving. Not yet three months into 2021, eight people already have died in traffic incidents, said Megan Wier, the city’s Safe Streets manager.
“What’s happening should make everyone mad,” said Ryan Russo, the city’s transportation director, as the police and transportation departments set out a plan to cut traffic collisions and reduce deaths and serious injuries.
The Safe Streets plan, a collaboration among the police, transportation and race and equity departments, calls for lower speed limits, particularly near schools, using automated speed enforcement cameras, resuming the use of redlight cameras, and installing more trafficslowing measures like speed bumps or narrower streets when repaving work is done.
Speeding, failing to yield, unsafe turning, redlight running and driving under the influence were the leading causes of traffic fatalities, the report found. Nearly 60% of Oakland’s traffic fatalities and serious injuries occur on just 6% of the city’s 800 miles of streets, the report said, referring to a 2018 citywide equity study — and communities of color suffer a disparate impact.
Black people are twice as likely as others to be killed or severely injured in traffic incidents, according to the study, with Black pedestrians three times as likely to die in traffic incidents.
The plan is Oakland’s attempt to balance steppedup enforcement focused on areas where traffic injuries and deaths are most common with efforts to make sure it’s not doing so with a disproportionate impact on Black drivers and pedestrians.
In 2016, Stanford researchers released a report that analyzed 28,000 stops, and found that Oakland police are far more likely to stop and search Black drivers or pedestrians than white ones. Since then, police have altered traffic stop strategies to dramatically cut back on enforcement, focusing on more serious violations and people they’ve identified as potential suspects or witnesses.
While the plan outlines a panoply of actions — including education, engineering and using data to focus efforts — committee members seemed to home in on enforcement, saying the city needs to crack down on illegal sideshows, speeding and failure to yield to pedestrians.
Councilman Loren Taylor said that his constituents feel “a sense that there is general lawlessness and a lack of accountability for driving however you want to in the city.”
Councilman Noel Gallo, whose district suffers a large number of traffic deaths, said some people drive uncontrollably, over the speed limit, through red lights and without licenses. Sideshows are common and tear up new bike lanes and newly paved streets, he said.
“A lot of it just centers on enforcement,” he said. “Once you cross the bridge into Alameda, we all act differently, drive differently, because we know there is enforcement.”
Russo said he believes the Safe Streets approach can strike the proper balance on enforcement, particularly if the state grants Oakland permission to use automated speed cameras.
“This strategy really points a path forward with the input of a lot of what we are hearing from the community and in line with changing our approach to law enforcement,” he said.
Gallo told The Chronicle said he wants to see more crossing guards and make sure traffic signals are properly timed. He also wants more speed limit signs — and a motorcycle cop at intersections where children are present.
“When you and I see a motorcycle officer, I don’t care who it is, everybody slows down,” he said. “Sadly, that’s what it takes sometimes.”