After years of delays and foot dragging, construction work has finally commenced on the PCH Traffic Light Synchronization Project. Though community members have advocated for better safety and mobility conditions on PCH for decades, it took Caltrans until last week to commence construction on a project that was approved by the City of Malibu on 8 May 2017. In those intervening 6 years and 7 months of waiting, 29 people have been killed and 1139 people injured, including the 4 Pepperdine students who were recently killed by a speeding driver on 17 October 2023.

SAFE was delighted to join in the celebration marking the successful completion of the Safe Streets for 17th Street and Michigan Avenue Project. This is Santa Monica’s newest addition to their protected bike network, which connects Wilshire Boulevard to Pico Boulevard on 17th Street and Michigan Avenue from 14th to 19th Streets.

SAFE was thrilled to hear some climate-friendly news last week when Mayor Karen Bass announced federal and regional funding had been secured to combat the impact of climate change through city services in the Northeast San Fernando Valley and citywide. The eco-friendly measures supported by SAFE include planting additional trees, laying down cool pavement, and adding loads of new shaded bus shelters and street trees as early as 2024.

The Malibu community group Fix PCH, of which Streets Are For Everyone is a part, hosted a poignant World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims on Sunday, November 19th on PCH in Malibu. The event was attended by approximately 100 people, including family and friends of the 4 Pepperdine girls killed by a speeding driver on October 17th 2023; friends and family of Emily Shane, killed by a speeding driver in 2010; civic leaders; elected officials; community members and other families affected by traffic violence, both along PCH and elsewhere in the city.

Streets are For Everyone, Street Racing Kills and Faith for Safer Streets placed two ghost tires on Saturday, November 18th on El Segundo Blvd. One was to honor the life of 13 year old Michael Leon, who was killed on the 8th of January 2023 by a speeding driver, and one was for all traffic victims killed in Los Angeles County for World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.

Every year, on the 3rd Sunday of November, organizations and individuals gather to commemorate World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. It is high high-profile global event to remember the many millions who have been killed and seriously injured on the world’s roads and to acknowledge the suffering of all affected victims, families, and communities.

This day has also become an important tool to advocate and call for an end to the preventable epidemic of traffic violence in Southern California and across the US. This year, we call attention to one specific deadly road, Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), and call for tangible and effective action by CalTrans to slow down and fix PCH.

Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 645, authored by Asm Laura Friedman and cosponsored by SAFE, Streets for All, and Walk San Francisco! This means changes coming to school zones and high-injury intersections starting in 2024…

Trees were trimmed, debris and garbage scooped up, and lanes were swept, as volunteers fanned out on Venice Boulevard for a bike lane cleanup, organized by People Powered Media and SAFE.

Streets Are For Everyone has entered into a partnership with People Powered Media, a new publication from journalist Sam-Omar Hall. The two institutions will collaborate on articles, events, and advocacy.

It’s back-to-school time, and families are working out how to safely get their kids to school.  Parents worry about road safety, especially when they aren’t the driver. Will drivers slow down near my child’s school? Will those driving bigger and heavier vehicles see my kids when they’re crossing the street? Will passing cars be going the proper speed limit in a school zone? 

SAFE is proud to participate (along with the National Coalition for Safer Roads and Verra Mobility) in spreading the message of National Stop on Red Week, August 6th - 12th, which serves as an important reminder of the dangers we face on our roads and the responsibility we all hold to Stop on Red.

Authored by Glendale Assemblymember Laura Friedman, this bill creates a new pilot program in Los Angeles, San Jose, San Francisco, Long Beach, Oakland, and Glendale. It allows those cities to install speed camera systems in school zones, high-injury streets, and areas with a history of street racing.

When it comes to street safety, it’s important to think about the language we use. Instead of using the term “accident,” let's refer to them as preventable crashes. The term "accident" suggests things happened by chance, and nobody is to blame. But by referring to them as "crashes," we can understand the importance of human actions, infrastructure, and policies in road safety and saving lives.

With the rise in popularity of cycling as a mode of transportation, exercise, and leisure activity, People For Bikes has been promoting bike-friendly communities and infrastructure across the United States. As part of their ongoing efforts, People For Bikes has recently released their highly anticipated "Best Places to Bike Report," providing cyclists with a comprehensive guide to the top biking destinations in the country.

The residents surrounding Marion Park have been terrorized by street racing for more than 20 years, a fire stoked by the release of the first Fast and Furious film. On May 19th, Fast and Furious X was released, and Marion Park was ready ….

In addition to other challenges, our schools are facing a public health crisis because of speeding, and it is only getting worse. Children and teens are dying, and they will keep dying unless change happens. While writing this report, yet another tragedy occurred near our SAFE office. On April 25th, 2023, 33-year-old Ghadah Abduljabbar, and her 6-year-old daughter were struck by a speeding vehicle in Hancock Park, a community of Los Angeles, CA. The mother was pronounced dead at the scene, and the daughter, a six-year-old, was severely injured but survived. The pair were hit while walking across a crosswalk near Hancock Park Elementary School, where the child attends the first grade. We cannot ignore speeding. Measures must be taken to mitigate speeding and keep our children safe.

In Los Angeles, traffic collisions are the #1 killer of our youth aged 4-14. And, with traffic incidents on the rise in school zones, it’s imperative to educate them.

The Streets, Art, SAFE program aims to enlighten and empower students to do something about it through creative, fun, artistic, and impactful visual storytelling while also developing film and visual arts expertise.

In 2022, The California Air Resources Board (CARB) was given approval for a $10 million budget to incentivize Californians to offset some or all of their driving with an electric bike. CARB announced their finalized enrollment details and eligibility requirements for their e-bike incentive program.

On Saturday, January 21, 2023, hundreds of community members – kids, parents, cyclists, pedestrians, elected officials, and dogs (don’t forget the dogs) – came together at LA City Hall for a massive die-in protest for safer streets in Los Angeles. 312 lives were lost in 2022 due to traffic violence, and thousands more were seriously injured – the highest on record in over 20 years.

For the last several years, the holidays in Los Angeles have served as a grim reminder that the streets of this otherwise world-class city are fast and deadly. As Streets Are For Everyone (known as SAFE) rang in the new year, we learned that 2022 was no exception.