Last month, Assemblyman David Chiu said what I’ve been saying for some time now:
“Speed kills.”
(See my article titled “Speed Kills” in Plaintiff Magazine here)
But I’m sure I’m not the first to say it. The important thing is that Assemblyman Chiu has joined forces with San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, the City and County of San Francisco, the City and County of San Jose, Walk San Francisco, and other officials and organizations to do something about it!
They have announced the Safe Streets Act of 2017. It’s a pilot program to reduce speeding utilizing cameras. The technique captures a photo of vehicles traveling over the speed threshold and is being used in other locations across the country. It is known as “ASE” and claims to be proven to reduce collisions resulting in catastrophic injury or death. The pilot program will be located in areas known for speed related in collisions.
In the press release announcing the Street Safe Act 2017, it was reported that in San Francisco, an average of 30 people are killed per year while approximately 500 more are hospitalized in traffic collisions. It did not specify pedestrians from vehicle drivers and passengers, but we know from other studies that in 2013, 21 pedestrians were struck and killed in San Francisco. The numbers of pedestrian accidents in San Francisco are staggering and while speed is a contributing factor in 30% of deaths caused by a traffic collision nationwide, in San Francisco in 2013, speed was the #1 cause of fatalities (sfmta.org/visionzero; SFPD Crossroads Database 2010-2014.).
So yes, speed kills. But people keep speeding. The ASE cameras might help make the streets safer.
This is the kind of technology that might put pedestrian accident lawyers in San Francisco and San Jose out of business you say? We frankly hope it will! It is part of the Vision Zero plan, a safety initiative with a two-year strategy in San Francisco for engineering, enforcement, and education with the vision that no one should die simply by trying to get around. At Rahman Law PC, we are advocates for safer roads. Shaana Rahman is on the Board of Walk San Francisco and we participate openly in the mission to make the streets safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, wheelchair assisted pedestrians, and even motorcyclists; all of the modes of transportation where the human is more exposed and more likely to have a catastrophic injury in an accident with a vehicle. We are pedestrian accident lawyers to protect your rights when it’s needed and we’re excited about the Street Safe Act of 2017 because it has the potential to educate the public about road safety through enforcement which could save lives in the future.