San Francisco adopted Vision Zero in 2014 with an ambitious goal of eliminating traffic deaths and significantly reducing serious injuries by making safety the city’s top transportation priority. More than a decade later, new crash data suggests the city is moving in the wrong direction.
According to a recent Streetsblog San Francisco report, San Francisco recorded 100 fatal or severe crashes during the first six months of 2026. That compares with 96 during the same period in 2025 and 92 in 2014, the year the city adopted Vision Zero.
The numbers are troubling for anyone who walks, bikes, rides a motorcycle, or drives in San Francisco. They’re especially troubling to me because I travel Bay Area streets by bicycle, motorcycle, and car, and I represent people whose lives have been changed by preventable crashes.
Vision Zero was built around the idea that people will make mistakes, but those mistakes shouldn’t cost someone their life. The latest figures show how far San Francisco still has to go to make that principle a reality.
Why Are Severe San Francisco Traffic Crashes Still Increasing?
Speeding, distracted driving, impairment, unsafe turns, failure to yield, and careless lane changes can all contribute. Street design may also make an accident more likely or increase its severity.
Some San Francisco streets bring people traveling at very different speeds into close proximity. A bicyclist may be separated from traffic only by paint or flexible posts. A pedestrian may need to cross several lanes before a signal changes. An e-scooter, motorcycle, skateboard, or bicycle can be difficult for an inattentive driver to see at an intersection. Even a careful driver can be injured by someone who runs a red light, speeds, or looks at their phone instead of the road.
SFMTA reports that it has completed thousands of safety treatments since 2014. The city has also introduced speed safety cameras, and early results indicate they’ve reduced speeding where installed. However, cameras currently cover only a limited number of locations. They also can’t address every dangerous intersection, poorly designed roadway, or act of reckless driving.
San Francisco’s High Injury Network further demonstrates how traffic danger is concentrated. According to SFMTA, approximately 12% of city streets account for 68% of severe and fatal crashes. Identifying those streets is valuable, but the information must lead to changes that protect people.
People Outside Passenger Vehicles Face the Greatest Risks
Everyone can be injured in a crash, but pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, e-bike and e-scooter riders have little protection from the force of an impact.
A pedestrian has no helmet, seat belt, or vehicle frame to absorb the impact of a crash. Someone riding a bicycle, e-bike, motorcycle, or stand-up scooter may be thrown onto the pavement or into another vehicle. The resulting injuries can include traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, fractures, internal injuries, permanent disability, and death.
The growing use of e-scooters, e-bikes, and high-powered electric motorcycles, or e-motos, has created new challenges on San Francisco streets, and according to SFMTA data cited by Streetsblog, reported injury collisions involving stand-up powered devices increased by 32% in 2025, reaching 316 crashes. A physician with San Francisco General Hospital’s Trauma Center also told ABC7 that medical providers are seeing more head and facial injuries involving scooter riders.
E-bikes and e-motos raise somewhat different concerns. California law recognizes specific classes of e-bikes based on their speed and how the motor operates. Some electric motorcycles marketed or described as e-bikes are considerably faster and more powerful than street-legal e-bikes. When traditional bicycles, e-bikes, e-scooters, and faster electric vehicles share the same limited space, differences in speed, weight, and acceleration can increase accident risk. I recently discussed how this mix of vehicles is changing San Francisco’s bike lanes and creating new risks for cyclists. Concerns about speed, rider experience, and serious injuries have also prompted some California communities to adopt or consider additional restrictions for young e-bike riders.
These developments deserve attention, but they shouldn’t distract from the continuing danger motor vehicles pose to people outside cars. Streetsblog reported that 17 pedestrians were killed in San Francisco in 2025 and another 11 died during the first six months of 2026. Nor should a rider automatically be blamed simply because a crash involved an e-bike or scooter.
As I discussed after a fatal San Francisco e-scooter crash on Market Street, determining responsibility requires examining how the collision happened rather than relying on assumptions about the vehicle or person involved.
When a Fatal San Francisco Crash Leads to a Wrongful Death Claim
The most painful consequence of San Francisco’s continuing traffic safety problem is the loss of life. No lawsuit can replace a spouse, parent, child, or other loved one. A wrongful death claim can, however, provide a way for certain surviving family members to seek accountability and financial support after a preventable death.
Depending on the circumstances, compensation may address lost financial support, funeral and burial expenses, and the loss of the loved one’s care, companionship, guidance, and affection. A separate survival claim may sometimes address losses the deceased person experienced between the injury and death.
Determining who may bring these claims and what compensation may be available requires a careful review of the family relationship and the facts of the accident. Our San Francisco wrongful death lawyers help families investigate fatal crashes involving cars, bicycles, motorcycles, pedestrians, and other forms of transportation.
Safer Streets Require More Than a Public Commitment
Vision Zero remains a worthwhile goal. No level of traffic death should be accepted as unavoidable. But a commitment made on paper doesn’t protect someone crossing an intersection or riding beside fast-moving traffic.
San Francisco’s latest crash numbers should prompt city leaders to examine where existing safety measures work, where they fall short, and how quickly they can expand proven improvements. The data should also remind drivers that every decision behind the wheel can affect someone else’s life.
At Choulos, Choulos & Wyle, we have spent decades representing people seriously injured on Bay Area streets and families who have lost loved ones in preventable crashes. You can contact me at cwyle@ccwlawyers.com or (415) 432-7290 for more information about a personal injury or wrongful death case, or visit the firm online.
This article is provided for general informational purposes and is not legal advice. Every case depends on its particular facts.
