The City of San Diego has failed to protect its own residents from traffic violence, and local advocates say the consequences are deadly. In the wake of two recent child deaths, Circulate San Diego launched a new online tool, or action alert, today to make it easy for residents to demand that Mayor Todd Gloria and the City Council fund life-saving street safety improvements.
The campaign, called “Stop Deaths on Our Streets,” is a push for real action rather than empty promises. Despite city pledges to eliminate traffic fatalities, nearly 50 pedestrians and cyclists die each year on San Diego streets—and in just one week in late October, 11-year-old Andrew and 6-year-old Lucas were killed in separate crashes. Circulate calls these deaths preventable, a consequence of the city’s inaction.
The three demands of the Stop Deaths on Our Streets Plan are:
- Fix the Fatal 15 Intersections, identified by Circulate last year, where people are most at risk;
- Paint curbs red to daylight intersections and improve visibility as required by state law; and
- Slow speeds near school zones, so children can arrive at school safely.
“Circulate and Vision Zero allies have been calling on the City to take road deaths seriously and invest in life-saving infrastructure,” said Aria Grossman, Policy Manager at Circulate. “Tragically, the City has not answered this call. By maintaining the status quo, the City is choosing to allow this trend of deaths to continue. It is time for the City to take action and make significant investments to save lives.”
The new online tool makes it simple for San Diegans to email city leaders directly, demanding funding for protected bike lanes, safer crosswalks, and traffic-calming measures. Circulate hopes that broad community participation will pressure city officials to finally turn Vision Zero rhetoric into real, life-saving infrastructure.
