\u201cIt\u2019s a tremendous win,\u201d Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition Executive Director Clarrissa Cabansagan told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cI can no longer say that somebody dies on our streets every week in San Jose.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the improving safety figures, advocates like Cabansagan acknowledge plenty of work still lies ahead for San Jose.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still not zero,\u201d Cabansagan said.<\/p>\n
The gains in 2025 come 10 years after\u00a0San Jose launched its Vision Zero program<\/a>, an effort to reduce traffic accidents by carrying out\u00a0roadway improvements<\/a>\u00a0and encouraging safer driving habits among residents.<\/p>\n Central to this effort has been the use of so-called quick build materials to quickly and cheaply adjust roadway configurations, either to encourage slower driving or create larger buffers protecting cyclists and pedestrians. For example, in 2023 the city received\u00a0$12.9 million through a federal grant<\/a>\u00a0program to add safety features to four transit corridors. Earlier projects, financed with a mix of city funds and grant awards, included roadway improvement work along\u00a0Senter Road<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Story Road-Keyes Street corridor<\/a>\u00a0in East San Jose.<\/p>\n City officials also point to road safety awareness initiatives, such as Slow Down, San Jose, a multilingual education\u00a0campaign launched in 2024. In addition, the San Jose\u00a0City Council voted last year to reduce posted speed limits along 18 roadways.<\/p>\n \u201cCombined, it seems these efforts and the public\u2019s receptiveness have started to turn the tide,\u201d Colin Heyne, a spokesperson for San Jose\u2019s Department of Transportation, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n At the time San Jose adopted its Vision Zero program in 2015, becoming the fourth city in the U.S. to do so, the city was in the middle of a yearslong surge of deadly traffic accidents that saw fatalities rise 37% between 2008 and 2019. Conditions have generally improved since then, despite a two-year surge in road deaths following the outbreak of COVID-19.<\/p>\n Last year\u2019s improving fatality figures included declines in traffic deaths for people in vehicles, on bikes and on motorcycles. Pedestrian fatalities held roughly even at 20.<\/p>\n The city also tracks major injuries from traffic accidents. While full figures for 2025 have not yet been released, preliminary data running through June suggests San Jose has not had the same success reducing major injury accidents that it has with fatalities.<\/p>\n \u201cReally funding is what we need at this point,\u201d District 9 Councilmember\u00a0Pam Foley<\/a>, who served on the city\u2019s Vision Zero Task Force until it ended last year, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n Foley said ongoing road improvement projects are taking place in the city\u2019s downtown and along major roadways like Tully Road and McKee Road.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we\u2019re doing that little by little, but more funding is really what we need in order to complete things,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769565369_275_LNM-20250616-SJSPOTLIGHTLOGO-01.jpg\")
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