Quick Take
Santa Cruz County ranks among California's most dangerous regions for cyclists and pedestrians, a decadelong traffic safety report shows. Local advocacy groups cited inadequate cycling infrastructure and population growth as key factors contributing to the high rate of serious crashes.
Santa Cruz County is a particularly dangerous region for bicyclists and pedestrians in California, ranking second statewide in bicycle crashes and alcohol-involved collisions, according to a decadelong traffic safety report released Thursday.
Compiled by the Community Traffic Safety Coalition, the report pulls from state traffic data between 2014 and 2023. It’s a disconcerting set of trends in an area that’s home to many who regularly bike and walk for commuting and recreation. Local road safety advocates point to a combination of inadequate road and bike infrastructure, aggressive driving and a fast-growing population in a small area.
The report, which takes data from the California Office of Traffic Safety and the California Transportation Information Mapping System (TIMS), revealed that Santa Cruz County ranked the 11th-highest county for vehicular crash victims killed and injured in the state.
Out of the state’s 58 counties, Santa Cruz County was second-highest in cyclists killed or injured in crashes and fifth-highest in pedestrians killed or injured in crashes. It was also second in alcohol-involved crashes, and second specifically in alcohol-involved crashes where the driver was under 21. It was fifth in speed-related crashes and ninth in nighttime crashes.
The Community Traffic Safety Coalition, a program within the county’s public health division, is a collaborative partnership among various entities such as community organizations, businesses and government agencies that share the goal to prevent traffic-related injuries and deaths for all road users, but specifically cyclists and pedestrians.
The data collected from TIMS reveal that 224 people were killed and 1,456 more were seriously injured in the county in the decade covered by the report, which comes out to an average of 22 deaths and 146 serious injuries each year. Cyclists and pedestrians accounted for 30% of reported fatalities and serious injuries, even though they make up just 7% of the overall commuting population. In total, there were 12 reported cyclist deaths and 242 serious injuries, along with 65 pedestrian deaths and 188 serious injuries.
Mikey Cohen, a board member with Bike Santa Cruz County, which released its own cyclist safety survey last month, said the findings don’t come as much of a surprise. He mentioned that his organization’s survey pulled from UC Berkeley’s Safe Transportation Research and Education Center, which indicated that Santa Cruz had the highest rate of crashes with serious injuries per 100,000 population last year. He cited narrow bike paths and aggressive driving as two major factors that plague cyclists.
Cohen said he believes that people are well-educated on the rules of the road, but that some lack courteousness, which can lead to severe consequences.
“That’s in many of the actions that I see in cars, bikes and all kinds of things. You see the trend of teenagers wheelieing in the middle of the street, and to me these things point to just not being really courteous,” he said. “I think 90% of people are, but it’s the 10% or less of drivers, cyclists and walkers that know the rules, but just don’t follow them.”
Kelly Curlett, a health educator with public health’s Safe and Active Transportation program, said that some of the rankings were not particularly surprising, while others were. She said the county has historically ranked high for pedestrian and cyclist deaths and injuries, but that the alcohol-related crashes are “alarming,” as is the high level of speed-related crashes: “Speed plays such a major factor in whether someone survives a crash.”
The report highlighted that the number of deaths and serious injuries rose gradually over the decade measured, from 135 in 2014 to 214 in 2022, before falling again to 172 in 2023. Curlett said she believes a growing population is partly responsible for the trend.
“More people are drawn to this area, and it’s a high tourist destination,” she said, adding that as the population grows, roads get more crowded and the potential for crashes rises. “We’re a university town with a large community college, and I don’t think the infrastructure we have is sufficient for our population.”
Curlett said the efforts to improve active transportation infrastructure, like the new buffered bike lanes and sidewalks along Soquel Drive, new bicycle and pedestrian overcrossings and the construction of a new multiuse trail along Green Valley Road in Watsonville, are likely to make a difference.
Cohen said both he and many other cyclists in the area strongly desire protected bike lanes separating cars from cyclists with physical structures.
“That’s first and foremost, and second is probably making sure that the bike lanes are safe, free from debris and well-maintained,” he said.
Curlett added that beyond physical infrastructure, people need to be more aware of the high number of serious collisions in Santa Cruz County compared to the rest of the state.
“We really need to elevate that so people understand and are more proactive about it,” she said. “People are still seeing crashes as accidents that just happen, but these are preventable.”
Curlett pointed to the coalition’s bicycle traffic school, available for anyone who wishes to learn more about bike and road safety. More people taking the initiative to learn, coupled with new bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, will move the county in the right direction, she said.
“It’s hard to get people to slow down when we’re all in such a rush, but if we can design streets in a way that makes people drive slower, we’ll see fewer people die or get seriously injured,” she said.
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