Civic Thread has posted a petition to Caltrans, SACOG, City of Sacramento, and others in the region asking for immediate action to eliminate pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities. I encourage you to sign the petition, and to follow the efforts of Civic Thread and many other advocacy organization in holding government and particularly transportation agencies accountable for the traffic violence that impacts us all. As with everything that Civic Thread does, action is through an equity lens. It would be a great first step if every agency adopted the list of five commitments that Civic Thread says is required, though of course it is action and not language that will make the difference.
- A commitment to work collaboratively and cross-sectorally at the City, County, and regional level to prioritize a consistent focus on equity and racial justice for project planning, funding, and implementation, particularly since evidence continues to show the majority of pedestrian and cyclist fatalities occur in low-income, communities of color, with Black residents disproportionately experience the highest risk of death while walking, in addition to a high risk of being killed by police in routine traffic stops.
- A commitment to prioritize funding mechanisms and set aside funding within the city, county, regional, and state budget for active transportation programs, Safe Routes to School, and matching funds for state and federal funding programs at the local jurisdiction level.
- A commitment to thoroughly vet community proposed infrastructure recommendations and to work closely with neighborhood groups and residents to identify solutions and ideas the community supports, including road diets, speed reduction, and quick builds along High Injury Networks.
- A commitment to analyze current roadway conditions, transportation design policies, and guidelines and develop a plan to address design flaws equitably and immediately.
- A commitment to building a comprehensive, seamless, low-stress network of active transportation corridors that is centered on equity and prioritizes investment in low-income and environmental justice communities.
Getting Around Sacramento 
I think we need a lot more traffic law enforcement. I have not seen a traffic officer in years. And we need red light cameras, which the Sheriff is eliminating.
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I agree with more automated enforcement, but not direct enforcement, which has been used by law enforcement as pretextual stops (stops for reasons other than traffic violations), resulting in injury and death to people of color. Sacramento Police Department essentially stopped doing any enforcement whatsoever, except occasionally for speeding, years ago. No one at the county or city level seems to care about the end of the red light cameras. Traffic violence is not a priority for anyone in the government.
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If you make “racial justice” the first priority, nothing will be done about safety, traffic, or deaths on the street. That topic sucks the life out of everything else, since there can be no end of grievance.
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The word I used was ‘equity’. If you read that as racial equity, you are missing all the ways in which our transportation system is inequitable, of which racial bias is just one aspect.
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