San Mateo seeks to remedy high rate of collisions

Slightly more than 3% of all crashes resulted in at least one death or severe injury, and more than 50% of all fatal and severe injury collisions involved pedestrians or bicyclists. While the total number of collisions has decreased since about 2018, senior engineer Bethany Lopez said that doesn’t always mean those resulting in fatalities have lowered as well. In some cases, such as between 2020 and 2021, just the opposite occurred.  

The data was meant to propel action toward mitigating some of the intersection risks, with staff suggesting about five primary types of fixes.

For more immediate, cost-effective solutions, adding plastic markers to reduce left-turning lane speeds were suggested. And while the cost runs between $10,000 to $20,000, it was also recommended to add signs giving pedestrians a head start at intersections when vehicles still have a red light. Some of the suggestions are already in place in highly-trafficked areas, such as downtown, but demand to expand additional measures has only increased. 

“Leading with the low-cost, immediate fixes that can save lives in the most acute kinds of collision — that are vehicle and pedestrian-involved — that should be our number one priority, if we’re looking at the hierarchy of need and protecting life first,” Councilmember Amourence Lee said.

According to the presentation, longer term solutions could include better traffic signal visibility — running up to $400,000 to implement — and speed management, as recent changes to state law now allow the city to lower speed limits below 25 mph in certain areas, which staff said could be on the table. 

Managing speed at school-adjacent intersections was also a top priority for the City Council, with Deputy Mayor Rob Newsom stating police presence could also keep speeding at bay. 

“It would be great if the police could do — not necessarily more enforcement — but more police presence, especially in the morning hours,” he said. “Just having them there immediately puts people on notice, and then it sticks with them.”