B'game Traffic Enforcement - No clear trend

I'm sticking by my assertion from last November made in the post titled "Does the whole County need remedial driving class?" because things do not appear to have improved.  As Sergeant Phil Esterhaus said on Hill Street Blues at the start of every shift "Let's be careful out there".  He was talking to the officers; I refer to the officers and drivers and pedestrians and cyclists.

Back in January we did the annual round-up of crime in town here.  Now BPD has made available the annual traffic enforcement numbers, so here they are:

                                                         2017      2018      2019      2020       2021      2022 

Reported Vehicle Accidents                  317        324        300        200       199        252

Traffic Stops                                      5,003      4,620      5.981    3,413    4,548      3,567 

Moving Citations Issued                      2,615      2,448      3,234    1,421     2,264     1,856

Following one of the principles of the Voice (i.e.  "A numerator without a denominator is useless"), I confirmed with the Chief that officer hours-on-the-street are essentially the same over the seven years.  The only real conclusion I can make from the stats is the Covid lockdown years led to a 30-50% decrease in accidents, stops and citations.  The rebound last year was fairly slow as well.

It would be easy to attribute the numbers to more working-from-home, crazy gas prices, kids postponing getting their licenses, or whatever else you can think of, but they show stability--at least in B'game.  The denominator we don't have is miles-driven in town.  Update:  A reader requested some further breakdown of the types of citations in the total, so BPD has been able to peel the onion a bit.  Here are some key categories:

• Distracted driving (cellphones): 31%
• Speed:  19%
• Stop signs:  13%
• Failure to obey a sign other than a stop sign (i.e. no left turn sign, no right on red sign, etc.):  9%
• Failure to yield to a pedestrian:  2%
• Vehicles driving in bike lanes:  2%
• Failure to yield while turning:  1%

              

Comments

[Handle Bard]

You missed the #1 reason citations are down in town:
The road surface on El Camino.

Speeding is down but dodging in and out of lanes to avoid potholes is UP UP.

And it ain't because of the trees, my friend.

[hollyroller@ gmail.com]

Well, what is it?

[Joanne]

Between worrying about a Euci falling and potholes on El Camino I have avoided it during this winter.

Did anyone hear about the 85 foot Euci falling and practically destroying the vintage Trocadero building in Stern Grove??

As far as US 101 after the hassle and expense of having to replace a tire damaged by a pothole I now drive like I am on a obstacle course to be able to spot and weave around the constantly new potholes between here and Redwood Ciry

[Jennifer Pfaff]

How about all the projects throughout the city?

Lots of infrastructure (both above, and below the ground) and apartment buildings being worked on. Curiously, this may also function as "traffic calming"...

Anyone living on the southend knows the challenges of driving around construction sites. This started during the pandemic, and continues. On El Camino, there has been some kind of pipe-laying project going on for at least a year or two, that typically blocks the slow-lane in several sections.

So people are finding new ways (detours) to get around town where they are not so familiar. And though they have to go slower through the project areas, then many seem to get very aggressive, and gun it, once out of those zones.

And on that, I agree with Joe, people seem to have lost their skills behind the wheel, (both technically, and etiquette-related) ; it's tough out there for pedestrians, they need a third eye.

[Phinancier]

Let's not forget that Uber, Uber Eats, Lyft, DoorDash, Grubhub and whatever other get it to me quickly service is out there is speeding along until they stop wherever they feel like it. I had a Lyft driver tell me that the cops cut them slack if they stop them as long as they haven't been drinking. Seriously.

[Joe]

I enjoy those moments when a text or a conversation with someone is reinforced by the news the following day. Yesterday I had a chat with an old time B'game guy who pays attention. We were bemoaning the unsafe driving that seems to be escalating. I first mentioned it here:

https://www.burlingamevoice.com/2022/11/does-the-whole-county-need-remedial-driving-class.html#comments

My friend attributed it to people coming to B'game from other areas like the city where people drive insane and there is minimal enforcement. I was a little skeptical, but here is the SF Comicle reporting today that:

San Francisco is no closer to reaching its Vision Zero goal than it was a decade ago when city leaders pledged to eliminate traffic deaths — and one supervisor says lax traffic enforcement by police is partly to blame.

But, since then, traffic citation data show police have dramatically scaled back enforcing traffic laws against speeding, running red lights, blowing past stop signs, not yielding to pedestrians in crosswalks and failing to yield during left or U-turns.

An analysis last fall by city resident and safe streets advocate Stephen Braitsch found the Police Department’s traffic division issued a combined 10 citations per day in 2022 — down from 117 daily traffic citations issued in 2019.

The 2019 citations were also well below 2014 numbers, when city police officers issued 350 traffic tickets per day.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/s-f-supervisor-wants-police-increase-traffic-18115526.php

That is a 97% decline in daily tickets issued!!!!!!!!!! I think my buddy is onto something. The question is will our city council pony up for more enforcement to counter the trend we see on a lot of things---when SF sneezes, we get a cold?

Or will it take a fatality or two to be taken as seriously as green sustainability stuff?

[Joe]

Another four months have passed since my last comment and, guess what, nothing has changed in EssEff:

Traffic citations in San Francisco declined by 97% in eight years.

The San Francisco Police Department reported a 97% decline in traffic citations over the past eight years as the city continued to struggle with fatalities and injuries on its roads, Supervisor Rafael Mandelman said Tuesday.

“If it seems like there isn’t any traffic enforcement in San Francisco, that’s because there largely isn’t,” Mandelman said. “And with 39 lives lost to traffic crashes last year alone, we simply cannot continue to shortchange street safety.”

Mandelman’s concerns stem from an October 2022 hearing where the SFPD said it issued an average of 10 citations a day that year, compared to 350 a day in 2014 and 117 a day as recently as 2019. That represents a 96.87% decline in traffic citations in eight years.

In the months since the hearing, traffic citations have languished at their historically low levels, Mandelman said. SFPD issued on average 11.5 citations a day between October 2022 and April 2023, Mandelman’s office said.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/traffic-citations-san-francisco-declined-97-18363007.php

[Paloma Ave]

Speaking of traffic enforcement, there is a presentation coming up.

Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Event on Tuesday, September 19, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Community Center.

Perhaps our the B.P.D. could emphasize that traffic laws need to be followed.

It seems that very few bicyclist obey the laws, including riding the wrong way on one way streets, riding on sidewalks, etc.

Also, why are pedestrians walking in the roadway instead of on sidewalks?

[Paloma Ave]

Speaking of traffic enforcement, there is a presentation coming up.

Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Event on Tuesday, September 19, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Community Center.

Perhaps our the B.P.D. could emphasize that traffic laws need to be followed.

It seems that very few bicyclist obey the laws, including riding the wrong way on one way streets, riding on sidewalks, etc.

Also, why are pedestrians walking in the roadway instead of on sidewalks?

[HMB]

Some streets the sidewalks are so bad you want to avoid tripping hazards or so many cars block the sidewalk you might as well stay in the street. Also, some neighborhoods there are so many electric bikes and scooters clipping me when I'm on the sidewalk that I've decided walking in the street facing traffic is safer.

[sue]

It is time to declare the Spin bike trial a failure and get these damn things off our streets and sidewalks. I am tired of looking at them cluttering up my street. When they do get ridden it is done irresponibly. I hope B.P.D. talks about writing TICKETS at the meeting.

[Little Hell's Angels]

I'm with HMB on this. The little Hell's Angels flying around the streets on their e-bikes are worse than the real Hell's Angels. At least you can hear the Hell's Angels coming.

[Paloma Ave]

Any bicycle that has a motor should require a license and insurance to operate.

[HMB]

The scooters really drive me nuts. Kids are modding them so they can go faster. They zip around all over -- bad enough on sidewalks but in the streets they are often on the wrong side, so a real hazard when you are driving and come to an intersection.

[Mom]

From what I read, a class 2 e-bike has pedal assist and a maximum speed of 20 mph with a hand throttle. A class 3 e-bike features pedal assist only and tops out at 28mph.

They certainly need some sort of enforcement to go along with instruction for pre-licensed drivers. I can't make the session tomorrow night but I hope someone can fill us in on what is said.

[Cassandra]

Get big gobmint involved.
That always helps.

[Joe]

Here is a very sad turn of events that was probably partially solved by the license plate readers (my guess):

Fatal Hit-and-Run Collision in Burlingame Leads to Arrest

Burlingame, CA – March 11, 2025 – The Burlingame Police Department responded to a fatal hit-and-run
collision early Tuesday morning at the intersection of Trousdale Drive and El Camino Real.
At approximately 6:09 a.m., officers arrived at the scene and located a female victim in the roadway who had
been struck by a vehicle. The victim, a resident of Daly City, was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Following an extensive investigation, officers identified and arrested a male suspect from Millbrae in
connection with the collision.