road safety

San Jose's pedestrian fatalities fewer in 2023 compared to last year

Wednesday, April 26, 2023

SJ's pedestrian deaths fewer in 2023 compared to last year

Traffic deaths in San Jose are adding up in 2023, but thankfully, the number is fewer than this time last year.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Traffic deaths in San Jose are adding up in 2023, but thankfully, the number is fewer than this time last year.

Colin Heyne, the public information officer for the City of San Jose's Department of Transportation, said we're at a third of how many people died this time last year.

"As of today, we've had 10 people lose their lives on San Jose streets due to crashes. Last year by the same date, we had almost 30 people die," Heyne said.

Seven of those 10 deaths are pedestrians.

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And even though the number is lower than in 2022, any loss is significant.

Last Tuesday, police say a driver off North White Road veered into the southbound lanes and struck a man standing in the bike lane waiting to cross the street. Two days later, that pedestrian died of his injuries.

And this week, another crash turned fatal.

San Jose police say on Sunday, April 9, a driver attempting to make a left turn from North 11th Street onto East Santa Clara Street hit a woman walking in a marked crosswalk. On Monday, police say she died of her injuries.

"It doesn't appear that the driver was intoxicated or distracted and did remain at the scene and was cooperative with the investigation. It still caused a loss of life on the streets of San Jose," Officer Steve Aponte said.

Police say the investigation is still pending.

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Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation is continuing their Vision Zero Action Plan, making changes to particularly deadly roadways. They have five large corridor projects this year.

Heyne wants people to know McKee Road and Tully Road will undergo some big safety improvements starting this summer.

The city will install new median islands, upgrade existing curb ramps and modify traffic signals.

Heyne said they will also move ahead with a long-planned behavior change campaign to get people to slow down.

"People know that speeding, which is our number one known cause to of fatal crashes, they know it's a problem but they don't see themselves as part of that problem," Heyne said.