Last year 56 people died in traffic collisions on Long Beach streets —  the highest total since at least 1990, authorities said.

Of those, 31 were pedestrians.

An analysis of the data provided by police to the Southern California News Group shows that a majority of those deaths, in 53 fatal crashes, occurred on major streets, with thoroughfares such as Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach Boulevard, Pacific Coast Highway and Seventh Street having the highest numbers.

East Long Beach experienced fewer traffic fatalities than other areas.

Speeding and pedestrians in the roadway were the two biggest contributing factors that led to 2025’s traffic fatalities, said Allison Gallagher, a Long Beach police spokeswoman.

“We’re taking a very serious approach to it,” police Cmdr. Jeremy Boshnack said. “It’s a large number and … it’s an increase over the last five years, and it’s not something that can be ignored.”

In the previous four years, the lowest annual number of traffic deaths was 36, while the highest was, twice, 45.

And over the five years, 52% of those killed in traffic crashes were pedestrians, the data show.

The Police Department is attempting to educate residents across all fronts of roadway safety — from campaigns designed to explain the dangers of drinking and driving to pedestrian and bicycle safety, Boshnack said.

Police deploy data, so officers see the problem areas in the city and dedicate more resources there, the commander said.

The state’s Office of Traffic Safety provides additional funding to the department so it can provide more educational outreach and overtime for officers focused solely on traffic safety and DUI checkpoints.

“So we’re not going to do a speeding enforcement necessarily in a neighborhood that has a lot of stoplights and things like that, but if you’re talking about areas with large thoroughfares where you can get up to higher speeds, it’s important to do traffic enforcement or speeding enforcement there,” Boshnack said.

The commander said the department has been conducting pedestrian enforcement near Cal State Long Beach and the Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center where pedestrian traffic is heavy.

“The larger thoroughfares create … the bigger amount of problems, the bigger traffic accidents,” Boshnack said. “You can get up to (higher) speeds, there are more pedestrians, there’s just a larger surface area for negative things to happen.”

Police need the community’s help.

“Every person is responsible for their own safety and, in doing so, you’re responsible for your neighbor’s safety,” Boshnack said. “So, if you’re distracted, you’re under the influence, and you’re speeding … you put your neighbors at jeopardy when you do things like that.”

Pedestrians should try to make eye contact with drivers to make sure they’re seen and drivers in general should slow down, he said.

“You don’t know the level of distraction or impairment that specific driver has,” Boshnack said. “You may think that you’re going to be able to cross the street safely outside of a crosswalk, and then somebody who is distracted can’t see you until the last second, so it’s a hard thing to gauge.

“You’re the first person that’s responsible for your safety,” the commander added.

Through June 3, the department has seen 25 traffic deaths in 2026. Four of those occurred in one collision when a driver slammed into a concrete tunnel beneath the Long Beach Airport on Feb. 21.