San Diego records carried twice the statewide vulnerable-road-user context
Between June 30, 2025 and June 29, 2026, 1,481 of San Diego’s 8,419 reported crash records, or 17.6%, carried a vulnerable-road-user or motorcycle flag, compared with 8.6% statewide.
That 2.04× recorded share supports a Vision Zero reporting question about who appears in the data, but it is not a population- or travel-adjusted risk rate and 1,601 city records lacked mappable coordinates.
- Reporting window
- June 30, 2025 to June 29, 2026
- Published
- June 30, 2026
- Source
- CHP California Crash Reporting System public records
Why this deserves a closer look
Vision Zero work centers fatal and serious harm while asking which road users bear the burden. This finding identifies a large difference in recorded context that deserves closer mode-specific and exposure-adjusted analysis.
1,481 of 8,419 crash records
Same dates and flag definition
San Diego compared with statewide
6,818 mapped and 1,601 without coordinates
San Diego in statewide context
| Measure | San Diego | California | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reported crashes | 8,419 | 371,698 | Same 365-day reporting window |
| Vulnerable/motorcycle flags | 1,481 (17.6%) | 8.6% | San Diego’s share was 2.04× statewide |
| Serious or fatal crashes | 382 (4.5%) | 4.1% | Crash-level severity bucket |
| Hit-run crash flags | 698 (8.3%) | 10.1% | San Diego’s recorded share was lower |
| Reported injured | 7,655 | Not used for comparison | Source-reported people injured |
| Reported killed | 49 | Not used for comparison | Source-reported people killed |
| Mappable records | 6,818 (81.0%) | Not used for comparison | 1,888 mapped locations were inferred |
Map data
These read-only maps carry the reporting window, coordinate coverage, source link, and methodology. High-volume views are display-limited and state the number of points shown.
Methodology note
- The city and statewide comparison uses the latest 365-day period available when this finding was prepared.
- A record is flagged when the normalized crash mart reports at least one vulnerable-road-user party or motorcycle party. This combined screening measure should be disaggregated before mode-specific conclusions.
- The statewide comparison uses the same dates, source table, and flag definition as the San Diego calculation.
- Of 8,419 San Diego records, 6,818 are mappable. Among the mapped records, 1,888 use street-inferred locations and 4,930 use source coordinates.
Limitations
- The comparison does not control for population, walking, bicycling, motorcycle travel, vehicle miles traveled, road design, or reporting practices.
- The combined flag is not a pedestrian or bicyclist rate and should not be described as one.
- The embedded map returns a display-limited set of points and cannot show 1,601 records without coordinates.
- Inferred points may represent a recorded road pair rather than an exact crash location.
- Public records may be revised after publication.
Suggested citation
The Crash Data Project. “San Diego records carried twice the statewide vulnerable-road-user context.” Published June 30, 2026. Analysis of California Highway Patrol California Crash Reporting System public records, June 30, 2025–June 29, 2026. https://crashes.meruai.co/reports/san-diego-vulnerable-road-users
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