As the Bay Area has become known for its traffic and high accident rates, officials continue to create legislation to stop these growing trends. The Metropolitan Transportation Center signed into action Vision Zero in June 2020 in an effort to reduce fatalities and serious injuries due to traffic accidents in the Bay Area to zero by 2030.
The MTC’s data averages 400 fatalities and 1,500 serious injuries that occur on the Bay Area’s local streets and highways each year with California metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles and Roseville consistently ranking in the top cities with the most car accidents per capita. As the Bay Area’s population grows and the total vehicle miles traveled increases, these numbers could rise if regional and local policies are not reassessed and adapted to fit the needs of growing communities.
The Plan
Vision Zero has allowed officials to allocate resources, financing $4.45 billion, to update roadways and alleviate congestion as well as promote driver safety. MTC has worked with legislation to find these funds for highway and transit improvements through added bridge tolls.
How Will Vision Zero Impact the Region?
The MTC Regional Safety/Vision Zero Policy is working to make the streets safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers by:
Providing regional leadership to promote safety; engaging and incentivizing leadership across jurisdictions; working toward aligning funding policy with safety goals.
- Applying a data-driven approach to inform safety policy and strategic use of available funds and resources. Regional safety data will be housed at MTC so local jurisdictions can benefit from consistent and reliable data.
- Promoting equity in regional safety policies by considering and analyzing impacts on communities of concern and protecting vulnerable roadway users, such as pedestrians and bicyclists.
- Supporting beneficial safety policies and legislation targeting evidence-based solutions to safety problems.
- Engaging key regional stakeholders in safety policy development, implementation, and collaboration on safety best practices. Provide education and technical assistance within budgetary constraints
San Francisco’s Steps Toward Vision Zero
Cities are incentivized to adopt the MTC Regional Safety/Vision Zero Policy and its policies, which include publicly reporting and making accessible data regarding accidents. San Francisco has adopted one of the largest programs in the region, consistently tracking and reporting the program’s progress, reducing speed limits across the area, and increasing the visibility of pedestrian crosswalks. Despite these modifications, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors is aware that many changes still need to be implemented in order to reach its goal of zero fatalities including increasing communication with communities and public outreach following fatal accidents.
When to Contact An Attorney
The reality remains that serious traffic accidents occur due to a number of causes, often including negligence. If you or a family member has been involved in a car accident in the Bay Area do not hesitate to reach out for legal assistance.
Bostwick & Peterson serves clients in the San Francisco Bay Area and throughout California. Our firm has decades of combined experience handling severe car accident cases in the Bay Area. We have recovered over $1 billion in compensation for clients and have secured record-breaking verdicts and settlements, including a $21 million non-punitive verdict for a single individual in an auto/truck accident case (San Francisco County, Zivic v. Winterland).
Our firm focuses on representing individuals who have sustained catastrophic injuries – including brain injuries – and helping families who wish to pursue wrongful death lawsuits after losing a loved one in a fatal traffic collision.
Contact us today for a free evaluation of your motor vehicle case.