Separated bike lanes on Hollywood Boulevard were cited as a key safety improvement by SAFE. (photo by Edwin Folven)

Safety advocates are calling for the city of Los Angeles to implement stronger measures to curb what has come to be known as “traffic violence,” where extreme speeds and reckless driving seriously injure people and claim innocent lives.

Traffic fatalities have outpaced homicides in Los Angeles for three consecutive years, and serious traffic collisions have become increasingly common on city streets. On Sept. 15, the nonprofit advocacy group Streets Are For Everyone held a rally outside City Hall and submitted an open letter to the Los Angeles City Council asking that an emergency be declared over traffic violence. The same day, a 36-year-old woman who authorities said was under the influence of drugs drove the wrong way on a street in Chatsworth at a high speed, ran a red light and plowed into the side of a Metro bus, killing two people and injuring five others. An NBC4 News helicopter that was covering the collision crashed nearby, killing three additional people. SAFE founder Damian Kevitt said enough is enough.

“The very day that we drop this letter and said, ‘Hey, you need to declare a local emergency because of the amount of traffic violence and you need to recommit to Vision Zero and actually pay attention to this, and then you have another mass traffic fatality event, this time in Chatsworth, and then of course a double tragedy afterward [with the NBC4 helicopter crash],” Kevitt said. “I think it only proves our point. Large sections of De Soto [Avenue], where the driver was speeding, are considered in the top 6% of the deadliest roads in Los Angeles, which result in 60% of the fatalities.”

Kevitt said declaring a local emergency is important because it would free resources and funding to address traffic violence on a citywide scale through public infrastructure improvement projects. He said the city doesn’t have the resources and manpower to implement projects quickly enough to make a difference. Kevitt suggested forming new partnerships that would enable the private and nonprofit sectors to more easily step in and help get projects implemented. Time is of the essence, he said, because people are literally dying.

“Declaring a local emergency … mainly the purpose is to say, ‘Hey, wake up! We’ve got to do something,’” he added.

The open letter also calls for the city to recommit to the Vision Zero program, which ran from 2015-25 and focused on reducing traffic fatalities and injuries by planning and installing safety infrastructure and improvements. Kevitt said the program didn’t produce results but added it is worth reconsidering. The open letter asks the city to examine how Vision Zero could be changed to attain better results. SAFE is also asking that the city fully staff the Los Angeles Department of Transportation so it can generate more grant funding and use money it already has to complete projects; empower the community to make their own roads safer through a community-led traffic safety program; and fast-track road safety programs and improvements already in the pipeline.

Kevitt cited important traffic infrastructure projects that have improved safety such as separated bike lanes on Hollywood Boulevard in east Hollywood. He hopes the city also soon addresses the intersection where Virgil Avenue, Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard and Hillhurst Avenue converge in Hollywood, which he described as “nightmare of an intersection” for congestion and collisions.

Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez, 13th District, said the bike lanes on Hollywood Boulevard are making a difference and he hopes to create more lanes for cyclists. He also called attention to pedestrian safety and the upcoming Week Without Driving in early October.

“Traffic violence in L.A. kills more people than homicides, but our government doesn’t treat it that way,” Soto-Martinez said. “With zero fatal collisions since the redesign, the Hollywood Boulevard project shows what happens when we design streets with people in mind. I’ll be participating in the Week Without Driving Oct. 1-8 to raise awareness for this issue and the nearly one in three Angelenos who don’t drive.”

Mayor Karen Bass’ office provided a statement about traffic violence and its effects on residents of Los Angeles.

“Mayor Bass sends her heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed and injured in recent traffic collisions across our city. Every one of these losses is a tragedy, and despite traffic deaths going down every year that Mayor Bass has been in office, more efforts are needed,” the statement read. “Over the past three years, the Department of Transportation has installed nearly 3,000 new crosswalks and has restored more than 2,500 that had fallen into disrepair. [This] week, 125 new speed cameras will begin being installed, holding those responsible for dangerous and deadly traffic accidents responsible. Mayor Bass has also expanded the city’s school safety program, creating more than 600 new School Slow Zones, installing nearly 500 new speed humps, and increasing funding for crossing guards, deploying more than 500 just this school year.”

A spokesperson for the campaign of L.A. City Councilwoman Nithya Raman, 4th District, who faces Bass in the mayoral race, provided a statement from the councilwoman and candidate in support of Vision Zero.  

“Reinvigorate Vision Zero by treating it as a citywide operating mandate, not just as a program of the Department of Transportation,” Raman said. “Create a dedicated Vision Zero director in the Mayor’s Office to make safety the governing lens for every decision made related to our streets. Explore new revenue sources from programs like speed enforcement cameras to dedicate funds to street safety.” 

The LADOT provided information on Vision Zero and the department’s approach to addressing traffic collisions and fatalities. 

“Fatal and severe crashes remain persistently and tragically high in the city of Los Angeles, killing approximately 300 people every year. These crashes are primarily caused by excessive speeding and they kill or injure pedestrians and bicyclists at a disproportionate and increasing rate. To address this nationwide trend, LADOT has implemented over 7,000 safety treatments from its Safety Toolkit since 2017. The city has also redesigned more than 20 miles of High Injury Network streets on major corridors such as Reseda Boulevard, Adams Boulevard, Hollywood Boulevard, Avalon Boulevard, Figueroa Street, Venice Boulevard and more as part of its Vision Zero initiative,” read a statement from an LADOT spokesman. “Data show that these treatments improved safety at the locations where they were installed, and LADOT is expanding this work to ensure streets are safe for all road users throughout Los Angeles. The department’s most recent comprehensive Safety Study updated the city’s priority intersections and streets based on recent fatal and severe injury crash data, identified the conditions and road configurations that contribute to high levels of severe and fatal crashes and pairs countermeasures that are shown to prevent crashes with specific crash patterns.  

The LADOT spokesman also provided information about upcoming projects to address safety.  

“LADOT also continues to identify and refine methods to improve safety conditions on streets. Citywide programs like the removal of peak hour lanes and the district-wide school safety efforts address safety issues at scale across Los Angeles. Planned projects that are underway or beginning within the next year on major corridors like Pico, Broadway, Sunset, Westwood, MLK, Spring-Alameda and Ohio will redesign streets to improve safety and remove factors that lead to high-levels of severe and fatal crashes,” the statement read. “The city of Los Angeles and LADOT have also worked to secure state level legislation to set safer speed limits (AB 43) and to pilot speed limit enforcement using cameras (AB 645) with speed cameras anticipated to launch this fall. An activation date for the speed safety system will be announced in the coming weeks.” 

Kevitt said the city must act more quickly to prevent traffic deaths, and he plans to keep pushing for action.

“Basically, we want them to fast track those projects that can be implemented now. To take those things that are already in the works and get them implemented faster,” he said.