Category: traffic violence

hit and run

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

Hit-and-run crashes are epidemic in the Sacramento area, and increasing. The statistics for Sacramento County, 2019-2023, are:

YearPercent Hit and Run
202310.6%
20229.8%
20218.9%
20209.6%
20198.1%

And for the City of Sacramento, 2019 through 2023.

Year
Percent Hit and Run
202313.8%
202211.7%
202110.1%
202011.1%
20199.1%

These statistics are from OTS Crash Rankings Results. Note that the year 2020 was the first year of the pandemic, and was a year of reckless driving on largely empty roads, nationwide. It is also the year that red light running became pandemic, and has continued to increase.

We do not know what percentage of the hit and run fatalities would not have been a fatality if the driver had stopped to render aide and to call EMS. But we have to assume that at least some of them would have been, particularly the incidents where the victim did not die immediately on site, but was transported to the hospital alive, and later died.

State law treats traffic violence as a less serious crime than any other. In fact, unless there is strong evidence that the driver was either far gone DUI, or intentionally ran down a walker or bicyclist, there is little legal consequence. Perhaps a fine, perhaps a temporary suspension of license, but a judge will frequently assign no penalty. Hit and run is considered a misdemeanor under law. CVC says “(c) Any person failing to comply with all the requirements of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine.“

DMV apparently has not been assigning the two points for hit and run (Negligent Operator Treatment System), in many cases. As a response to the lack of action by DMV, AB 1685 to require DMV to assign points, among other things, passed the legislature but has not yet been signed by the (windshield) governor.

Involvement in a crash does not indicate fault. But hit and run does indicate a failure to remain on the scene and render aide. What should be the penalty for that? I think it should automatically be classified as a felony, as it is a act of violence, regardless of the circumstances of the crash. However, legislation to crack down on traffic violence in the legislature has been killed, or watered down, or vetoed by the governor. Legislators are as reluctant to hold drivers accountable as law enforcement and judges. It will probably be a long time before hit and run drivers suffer any higher level of imprisonment or fine.

So I’d like to suggest a consequence that does not involve a violation of CVC or driver points. Anyone convicted of hit and run would:

  • Have their vehicle confiscated. This is not impoundment, under which the driver would get their vehicle back eventually, but confiscation in which the vehicle is sold and money goes into a fund for street safety. Confiscation is important, because the sort of driver who will leave the scene of a crash is the sort of driver who will continue to drive so long as they have a vehicle.
  • Have their drivers license suspended for 10 years. Longer if there are additional circumstances such as DUI. Yes, this would be an immense burden on people who live in low density places, or live far from where they work, or drive as part of their work. That is exactly the point, to create a consequence that will impel most drivers to remain on the scene as the law requires.

Both of these actions would cause most drivers, except the ones who intentionally cause crashes, to remain at the scene. It does not mean that they caused the crash, that is a separate issue for a separate court case. It does mean that they followed the law. For those who hit and run, I have absolutely no sympathy. These are not only criminals, they are sociopaths.

fatality on Franklin

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

A bicyclist was murdered by a hit-and-run driver on Franklin Blvd four days ago. Hit-and-run driver kills bicyclist, 59, as she repairs bike on Franklin Boulevard (SacBee, 2026-09-03, Darrell Smith). I intentionally use the term ‘murdered’, as I believe that hit-and-run qualifies as murder. It is an intentional decision on the part of the driver to not provide any aide to the victim, possibly saving the life. It is the lowest of driver behavior, and that is a low bar indeed. Unfortunately, state law treats traffic violence as less important than other violence, and except in very few circumstances does the driver/murderer suffer any significant legal consequence.

The person killed, Norma Valdez, was in the southbound bicycle lane on Franklin. The murderer drifted into the bicycle lane and killed her, and then left the scene. So far as I know, the driver has not been found. A memorial has been created on the site by friends.

photo of memorial for Norma Valdez on Franklin Blvd
memorial for Norma Valdez on Franklin Blvd

I was initially interested because I thought the crash was within the area of Vision Zero Complete Street on Franklin, but it is south of Fruitridge Road, in Sacramento County rather than the city. The location is opposite 48th Avenue. At this location, the bike lane is a little wider than usual, about 5.5 feet. There is no protection of any sort for the bike lane.

Conventional Class 2 bike lanes should never be installed on roadways over 30 mph, and generally not over 25 mph. The NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide, 3rd Edition, Constrained Bike Lanes, has the following table for ‘constrained’ (conventional) bike lanes. Nothing in this table matches Franklin Blvd at this location. It is higher speed, higher volume, and is two lanes per direction. Franklin should never have been designed this way. Caltrans CA-MUTCD and Highway Design Manual conveniently do not provide an upper speed limit for Class 2 bike lanes. Caltrans treats bicyclists with disdain, though with more respect than walkers. It is widely recognized that Class 2 bike lanes on high speed roadways will lead to fatalities. Such as this one.

The roadway is four lanes, two southbound and two northbound. A median is present in much of this section, but there is a gap here for 48th Avenue, which is only to the east, with no street to the west. La Grande Blvd to the west is a little to the south. The posted speed limit here is 40 mph. Readers will know that if a posted speed limit is 40, actual speeds are 50 to 55 mph. Even at 40 mph, and certainly above that, any collision with a bicyclist or walker will be fatal.

photo of Franklin Blvd near 48th Ave
Franklin Blvd near 48th Ave

I walked north on Franklin to Fruitridge Road, which is the southern terminus of the city’s project. City and county are mixed in this area. The county portion is actually better designed than the city portion. The city portion has no bike lanes at all, narrow sidewalks, mostly 4 feet, with either a center turn lane (‘suicide lane’) or with opposing posted 40 mph traffic separated by only a yellow stripe.

This entire area of south Sacramento, both city and county, is a place where motor vehicles dominate all other life.

It is worth noting that the bike lanes on Franklin Blvd and 47th Avenue adjacent to the former Campbells factory could have curb separation since there is only one active driveway in 2900 feet along Franklin and one in 2200 feet along 47th. These would not have prevented this murder, but any improvement is valuable.

Though I would have guessed otherwise, in the five years of TIMS/SWITRS data, 2019 through 2024, there were no bicyclist fatalities or severe injuries in the section of Franklin Blvd between Fruitridge Road and Florin Road.

Automated Red Light Cameras are NOT Automated License Plate Readers

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

Automated Red Light Cameras are NOT Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR).

Recently Flock Safety cameras, and similar cameras by other vendors, including the Motorola cameras used in the City of Sacramento, have been much in the news, and there growing public concern and desire to ban or tightly control their use. You can read up on how they have been mis-used by law enforcement agencies. They are a step toward a univeral surveillance state. ALPRs continuously record license plate numbers, and depending on the setup, also other information including vehicle identification and even facial recognition of the driver. Though law enforcement claims that license plates are correctly identified, and that data is shared only with those who need to know, it has been demonstrated that they are very inaccurate, and that the data is being accessed by almost anyone associated with law enforcement or government agencies. Including stalking by law enforcement officers.

Automated Red Light Cameras (and similar Automated Speed Enforcement Cameras) are completely different. They record only incidents of violation, such as running red lights, and capture only license plate numbers. They are not continuous, do not record any other information, and have retention periods only long enough to resolve the civil citations. You can read a good summary of the privacy safeguards on City of Sacramento’s Automated Red Light Camera Enforcement Program page, or more detail on the SB 770 legislation page.

If you get into or overhear a discussion that confuses ALPRs with red light cameras, I hope that you will jump in with the correct information. Being anti-Flock should not means being anti-red light cameras.

Some of this confusion is understandable. To the public, any camera may seem like the camera of concern. At a typical intersection, there may be upwards of ten cameras, all for different purposes, or overlapping purposes. Probably some are ALPRs. Some are for detection, that allow the signal to detect motor vehicles and bicyclists, some are for traffic detection, allowing an agency to adjust for traffic flows. Sadly, most agencies do not actively manage traffic, even though they have spent huge sums on the signals, controller boxes, and central traffic centers that would allow them to do so.

I know that much of the ‘confusion’ is intentional. There is a large subset of motor vehicle drivers who do not want to be held responsible for their driving behavior and the traffic violence they create. Lumping red light cameras (and speed cameras) in with surveillance cameras furthers their attempt to ban all cameras. Don’t fall for it! Help educate your friends, co-workers, agencies, elected officials, and organizations.

See my previous posts: SacATC 2026-08-20: red light camera program and are there Flock cameras in the City of Sacramento?, and many others.

SacBee’s Ariane Lange keeps focus on victims of traffic violence

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

In today’s SacBee, two articles by Ariane Lange keep the focus on victims of traffic violence.

Before Ariane Lange, now joined by Madison Smalstig, the SacBee had always parroted law enforcement assessments of traffic violence crashes, which almost always blamed the victim, and rarely the driver, except in cases of egregious DUI. Law enforcement has a well-known windshield bias, in which motor vehicle drivers like themselves are blameless, whereas walkers and bicyclists, unlike themselves, are assumed to be at fault. Later investigations often reveal that law enforcement had either fabricated information or neglected to report key information, but that was never covered in follow-up articles. The SacBee went along with this bias. As result, readers assumed just what defenders of our car-centric transportation system wanted them to assume, that crashes are just accidents, that are not avoidable. We know better. Since Ariane Lange, readers know better.

The one thing I will comment on is that Ariane let Elk Grove off the hook too easily. “The speed limit on that part of the road is 45 mph. In the immediate area of the crash, Sheldon Road has six general-purpose lanes plus the center turn lanes. It’s wide and fairly straight, with clear sightlines and few reasons to slow down.” “A spokesperson for the city of Elk Grove, Sydney Robertson, said that after Lopez was killed, the Public Works Department reviewed the site and “concluded that the intersection was properly constructed to applicable standards. Although not required, a yield sign was installed.” “The roadway, the city determined, had nothing to do with his death.”

In fact, the roadway had everything to do with the death. Six general purpose lanes means that the road is an arterial, designed to carry high speed traffic. An unprotected left turn lane into a commercial area means that the road is a street. This road/street hybrid is called a ‘stroad‘ (Strong Towns), and it is well known by all that stroads kill people, and also kill communities and livability. At 45 mph, as though most drivers are not driving way faster, crashes with walkers and bicyclists and motorcyclists, are almost guaranteed to result in death. Elk Grove designed and built that road. Just because the road meets ‘standards’ (which were written by people who believe the purpose of roads is to carry the maximum number of motor vehicles at the maximum possible speed) doesn’t mean that it is safe, and doesn’t mean that such designs are not malfeasance on the part of the city.

If a roadway is designed for high volume and high speed, it should have no commercial access. If the city wants commercial access, the roadway should be designed for lower volume and lower speed. Yet the shopping center that contains WinCo was permitted with two driveways, and the driveway that the driver was aiming for has two entry lanes, further encouraging drivers to cross the opposing lanes of traffic at a high speed. Just to make the message clear that this is a place for motor vehicles and nothing else, there are three drive-through fast food chains, and a huge parking lot for the shopping center. As a sop to people walking from their cars, there are two walkways in the parking lot. For the west one, at the north side, there is no marked crosswalk. On the south side, there is no safe crossing at all. For the east one, that leads towards WinCo, there is a marked crosswalk on the north side, but on the south side, the walkway does not align with the cross-hatched pedestrian areas, nor is it protected by the stop signs. The shopping center designers clearly do not walk, but more importantly, the city did not question the unsafe design, and permitted it.

It is bad enough that our car-centric culture and legal system largely excuse drivers of traffic violence, but it is even worse, in my opinion, that we give planners and traffic engineers a pass on the roadways they design in a way that they know will result in fatal crashes. This is no way excuses the driver at fault here of both legal and moral responsibility, but if we keep blaming crashes only on drivers, or blaming no one at all, we will never solve the problem.

overview of Sheldon Rd in Elk Grove, with site of fatal crash
Sheldon Rd in Elk Grove, with site of fatal crash

crime and motor vehicles in Old Sac

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

Police shutting down Old Sacramento streets to cars in response to weekend violence, SacBee, 2026-07-31, https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article316718152.html

It is interesting to see SacPD and Downtown Sacramento Partnership acknowledging the correlation between crime and private motor vehicles. Causation? I’ll speculate yes.

Why is there motor vehicle access to Old Sacramento, at any time? I’d suggest no motor vehicles at any time, except access for handicap placards, and delivery, off hours.

Drive-by shootings, sideshows, crashes killing bicyclists and walkers, red light running. All of these require private motor vehicles and their drivers. Crimes, all.

Emergency Streets

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

Listening to the Talking Headways podcast this morning, there was a brief reference to Emergency Streets and Kevin Krizek. I immediately went to the Emergency Streets website. I have to admit that it is immensely satisfying to me when I find a formal program similar to what I have posted about before: someone died here, close the intersection (2026-02).

“Emergency Streets inculcates a sense of urgency requiring a response by every driver on the road. Reframing the problem as a public health matter has potential to shock the system and foment change. Emergency Streets can help sidestep some of the existing bureaucratic and cultural barriers to slower, safer driving, without compromising other public priorities.”

Emergency Streets – Why

Emergency Streets is a developed program that consulted with academics and street safety staff and advocates. It is robust and innovative. I encourage you to look at the website, and I’ve linked two of the relevant documents: Emergency Streets Protocol and Emergency Streets White Paper.

The program is not dissimilar to the Strong Towns Crash Analysis Studio, but is a much quicker response. See Strong Towns: Safe & Productive Streets.

In most cases, Emergency Streets does not propose to close the intersection, except as briefly necessary to set up controls and communication, but it focuses on immediately slowing traffic, within 36 hours, and notifying the public of the fatality, on the ground and through media. Signage should be in place within five days. Changes of up to a half mile before the location are recommended, though I think that depends on the context. Arterial streets with few cross-streets and fewer safe crossings? Yes, a half mile. A street with many cross-streets and possibly safe crossings at other intersections, a shorter distance would work.

The table below provides an example of treatments, but please look at the entire Protocol document for more details.

The City of Sacramento Tactical Action Group (quick build program) has not been fully defined yet, but I recommend the city consider the Emergency Streets program for adoption. At this time, the best information is a TAG presentation given to Strong SacTown. (Note that I have not posted on the TAG/quick build since it was on city council agenda in March 2025. I will correct that.)

graphic of Emergency Streets logo
Emergency Streets logo

leading causes of death

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

The chart below shows the leading causes of ‘unintentional’ death in the US, 2019 to 2023. The chart is from Centers for Disease Control (CDC) WISQARS Leading Causes of Death page. Change filters to see the ‘unintentional’ data. Ironically, one of the available filters is ‘Violence-Related Injuries’, but these ‘Unintentional MV (motor vehicle) Traffic’ datum are not in that category, though they are clearly violence. Traffic violence. And of course not all is ‘unintentional’. And as with all traffic violence data, it does not include crashes that occur on private property, people run over in parking lots and children killed in their own driveway.

I often see it stated that traffic violence is the leading or second leading category of preventable death, but I find this more detailed view worthwhile.

Credit to Emergency Streets for the idea, and the link to CDC WISQARS. My selection criteria is slightly different than theirs. I’ll write soon about Emergency Streets.

someone died here, close the intersection

Dan Allison1 Comment

When a traffic crash results in a fatality, society mostly shrugs and moves on. Until Ariane Lange started writing in the SacBee about the victims of traffic, there wasn’t even a shrug. Sometimes all the evidence of someone dying is some small car parts pushed to the side, and maybe a small oil slick, easily ignored. There is nothing to say someone died here. The people who died might be drivers, passengers, walkers, bicyclists. Real people whose lives were cut short. It is likely for two reasons: roadway design that encourages speeding and reckless driver behavior, and human mistakes.

Rather than shrugging and moving on, we need to take notice. I think the best way is to close the intersection where the fatality occurred, and yes, it is quite often though not always, intersections. They are the locations with the most complex movement of motor vehicles, particularly turning movements, and walkers and bicyclists. The intersection should be closed until some action is taken to make the intersection safer.

Read More »

it’s not just transportation infrastructure

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

It has been increasingly common to refrain from blaming traffic violence on drivers, and instead to point to transportation infrastructure which encourages drivers to speed and to act in such a way as to create crashes. There is truth in this, and equity to some degree. But I think the pendulum has swung too far in that direction, and it is time to bring back driver responsibility.

We have invested trillions of dollars to create a transportation system that kills and mains countless people, with an emphasis on harming people who walk and bicycle. This was not an ‘accident’. Traffic engineers knew that their roadway designs would kill people, but absolved themselves of responsibility by pointing to the ‘standards’, which promote these designs, but are based on nothing but speculation and bias. It is always easier to blame crashes on driver behavior than to design safe roadways. Well, here we are. It will cost trillions to fix. We don’t have that money. That is not to say we should not be fixing what we can, with a priority on those designs and locations that have killed the most people, or seem most likely to.

Read More »

the worst drivers

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

I frequently travel to cities on the west coast and the intermountain west, and just recently traveled to several cities in the southern and eastern states. When I travel, I am always paying attention to transportation systems and driver behavior, in no small part because I get around by walking, bicycling and transit. From these experiences, I can state clearly that Sacramento has the worst drivers of any city I’ve visited. The incidence of aggressive and belligerent drivers is probably about average. What is so different, though, is the low skill level of drivers here. A brief list:

  • unawareness of traffic law (California Vehicle Code), both old and new
  • oblivious to what is going on around them, focused on their phone or car or daydreaming, not paying attention to others on and off the roadway
  • no understanding of taking turns at intersections with four-way stop signs; the most basic rule of intersections, first come – first served, is apparently not known by most drivers
  • uncertainty about where their vehicle is on the road; drifting into adjacent traffic lanes and bike lanes, stopping where they probably did not intend to stop; this is not just a problem of oversized trucks and SUVs where the driver cannot actually see the roadway, but for most drivers of most vehicles; the damage to vertical delineators, medians, traffic circles and roundabout, and curbs, attests that they don’t know where their vehicle is, or don’t care
  • unwillingness to stop (or yield, as the law states) for people walking across the street at intersections
  • failing to look when entering or exiting driveways for people on the sidewalk
  • running stop signs
  • running red lights

And most irritating to me, stopping for bicyclists when the driver has the right of way and the bicyclist does not. This teaches bicyclists to go when it is not legal for them to do so, and not safe. It also delays bicyclists. I once totaled up the amount of time I wasted waiting for drivers to take their legal right of way, and it was about 20 hours per year. Time that I will never get back.

I agree that really solving bad driver behavior requires correcting the roadways. But we have spent billions building unsafe roadways, and will have to spend billions making roadways safe again. When will we have that kind of money?

Again, Sacramento is sort of in the middle of cities making changes to their roadways. Much less than many cities (most notably the bay area), but significantly more than many cities. So the lack of safe roadways does not explain all of the bad driver behavior. Drivers here really are less skilled.

Why? I don’t know. But I’m certainly getting tired of it. Nearly every trip I take walking and bicycling, I am threatened by unskilled drivers, yes, and sometimes belligerent drivers. Sometimes many times on a single trip. I have a high level of skill in both walking and bicycling, watching out for and responding to unskilled driving. But what of everyone else who does not have that skill level? It is ironic that I, as a walker and bicyclist, need a high level of skill to navigate our transportation system, but the same expectation of drivers does not exist.