San Jose recorded its 18th pedestrian fatality of 2026 on September 14, a sobering milestone during California Pedestrian Safety Month. This figure underscores that traveling on foot or using a mobility device, fundamental ways residents move through their communities, can pose a risk to life. Across the U.S. in 2024, over 7,000 pedestrians died in traffic crashes, with California accounting for 1,090 of those deaths. A significant factor in these incidents, three in five fatalities nationally occurred in areas lacking sidewalks, with the majority taking place at night.
While individual responsibility like looking both ways is crucial, pedestrian safety is a collective issue that extends beyond personal actions. The design of transportation systems plays a vital role. Elements such as sidewalks, visible crossings, adequate lighting, and appropriate speed limits are essential safety improvements. These designs enhance visibility for both drivers and pedestrians, allowing more time for safe decisions. Furthermore, effective design helps establish walking as a practical transportation choice rather than a hazardous endeavor.
Data and research are instrumental in translating the broad goal of "safer streets" into concrete investment decisions. Community involvement, such as walk audits, brings together neighborhood residents, transportation professionals, local businesses, schools, and community leaders. These audits provide direct observation of street conditions and their impact on residents, helping identify needs like new sidewalks, crosswalks, or revised speed limits.
Several tools are available to help residents and communities improve safety. UC Berkeley’s Street Story platform allows Californians to report crashes, near misses, and areas they perceive as unsafe, supplementing traditional crash data. Research from the Mineta Transportation Institute also offers tools like the Smart Mobility Calculator, which assists communities and professionals in understanding factors such as walkability, safety, access, and overall livability. This information, along with vital resources and education, helps identify effective solutions, but communities require funding to implement them.
For a growing city like San Jose, these issues are particularly pressing. Between 2019 and 2023, San Jose experienced 138 pedestrian fatalities. The city is actively working to address this trend through its Move San Jose Plan, which aims to create safer and more convenient non-car transportation options. A key strategy involves developing more walkable communities by concentrating jobs, housing, and other development near transit hubs.
San Jose’s proposed five-year capital plan allocates over $230 million toward traffic safety and multimodal improvements. However, these plans and projects depend on sustained funding to become reality, and some initiatives still face significant shortfalls. For instance, the Jackson Avenue Complete Streets Project, which seeks to improve safety and mobility along Jackson Avenue from Berryessa Road to Story Road, currently has funding secured for its design phase but lacks the necessary construction funding.
Walking serves as a fundamental link to the city's transit system, schools, businesses, and broader community. A city designed for a child to walk safely to school, an older adult to cross the street comfortably, and a transit rider to reach a bus stop without fear, ultimately benefits all residents. While California Pedestrian Safety Month provides a dedicated period to focus on these critical concerns, creating safer streets demands continuous, year-round attention. Pedestrian deaths are preventable, and not an unavoidable cost of daily movement.
