El Cerrito Has Higher Rate of Injuries to Pedestrians and Bicyclists Than County Average

UC Berkeley's new online traffic injury database shows that El Cerrito has a much highter rate of injury-causing traffic collisions that involve pedestrians and cyclists than the average for Contra Costa County.

Around 47 percent of crashes in the city resulting in injury between 2000 and 2008 included a pedestrian or bicycle collision compared to 26 percent countywide. The biggest cause of traffic collisions resulting in injury in El Cerrito (18 percent) were was violating the pedestrian right-of-way.

Albany next door also has a higher rate of injury-causing traffic collisions that involve pedestrians and cyclists than the average for Alameda County. Around 43 percent of crashes resulting in injury between 2000 and 2008 included a pedestrian or bicycle collision compared to 30 percent countywide. The leading causes of  traffic collisions resulting in injury were violating the pedestrian right-of-way (20 percent) and driving under the influence of of alcohol or drugs (20 percent).

These and many other traffic-injury statistics are now accessible to the public online with this month's launch of the Transportation Injury Mapping System (TIMS) from UC Berkeley. The database project, begun in 2003 at UC Berkeley’s Safe Transportation Research and Education Center, includes collision data from 2000 to 2008, with customizable maps detailing the location, circumstances and level of injury for each traffic accident.

The data shows that in the three East Bay counties of Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano between 2000 and 2008, there were an average of 910 injury-causing traffic crashes per year, or 2.5 per day.

 Alameda County had the highest number of injury-causing crashes, at an average of 479 per year, followed by Contra Costa County at 288 on average per year. Solano County experienced an average of 144 injury-causing traffic collisions each year.

 In the East Bay, around 20 percent of these crashes resulted in death. The causes for road deaths and injuries between 2000 and 2008 can be attributed to three main causes: driving at an unsafe speed, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol and “improper turning.”

Alameda County racked up the most crashes resulting in death or serious injury with a total of 4,310 in the nine-year data span. Of that number, 20 percent involved speeding and 19 percent involved alcohol or drugs.

During the same period in Contra Costa County, 22 percent of accidents with injuries involved alcohol or drugs, and 19 percent were caused by speeding.

Around 21 percent of injury-causing accidents in Solano County involved speeding, with 20 percent caused by “improper turning” and 19 percent involving driving intoxicated.

The fatality rate in the three counties is highest in Solano at 27 percent, followed by Contra Costa County and 22 percent and Alameda County at 20 percent.

A detailed breakdown for El Cerrito and Contra Costa County can be found below.

EL CERRITO:

Collision Severity

Factor

Number

Percent

Severe Injury

39

80%

Fatality

10

20%

TOTAL

49

100%

Pedestrian Collision

20

41%

Bicycle Collision

3

6%

Motorcycle Collision

6

12%

Truck Collision

2

4%

Factor

Number

Percent

Unknown

1

2%

Driving or Bicycling Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drug

8

16%

Impeding Traffic

0

0%

Unsafe Speed

4

8%

Following Too Closely

0

0%

Wrong Side of Road

0

0%

Improper Passing

0

0%

Unsafe Lane Change

3

6%

Improper Turning

5

10%

Automobile Right of Way

2

4%

Pedestrian Right of Way

9

18%

Pedestrian Violation

8

16%

Traffic Signals and Signs

4

8%

Hazardous Parking

0

0%

Lights

0

0%

Brakes

0

0%

Other Equipment

0

0%

Other Hazardous Violation

1

2%

Other Than Driver (or Pedestrian)

2

4%

Unsafe Starting or Backing

0

0%

Other Improper Driving

2

4%

Pedestrian or "Other" Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drug

0

0%

Fell Asleep

0

0%

Not Stated

0

0%

Others

0

0%

TOTAL

49

100%

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY 2000 - 2008:

Collision Severity

Factor

Number

Percent

Severe Injury

2025

78%

Fatality

570

22%

TOTAL

2595

100%

Pedestrian Collision

455

18%

Bicycle Collision

204

8%

Motorcycle Collision

442

17

Truck Collision

94

4%

Factor

Number

Percent

Unknown

120

5%

Driving or Bicycling Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drug

576

22%

Impeding Traffic

0

0%

Unsafe Speed

490

19%

Following Too Closely

5

0%

Wrong Side of Road

137

5%

Improper Passing

21

1%

Unsafe Lane Change

79

3%

Improper Turning

370

14%

Automobile Right of Way

189

7%

Pedestrian Right of Way

100

4%

Pedestrian Violation

194

7%

Traffic Signals and Signs

146

6%

Hazardous Parking

3

0%

Lights

0

0%

Brakes

0

0%

Other Equipment

5

0%

Other Hazardous Violation

24

1%

Other Than Driver (or Pedestrian)

64

2%

Unsafe Starting or Backing

22

1%

Other Improper Driving

25

1%

Pedestrian or "Other" Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drug

10

0%

Fell Asleep

15

1%

Not Stated

0

0%

Others

0

0%

TOTAL

2595

100%

Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly reported that most of the traffic collisions involving serious injury in El Cerrito were caused by violating the pedestrian right of way. Violating the pedestrian right of way was the leading cause, responsible for 18 percent of such accidents. The story also incorrectly reported that most injury-causing accidents in Albany were caused violating the pedestrian right-of-way or driving under the influence of of alcohol or drugs. Those two factors were the leading causes, each responsible for 20 percent of the collisions. The story has been corrected.