SFMTA report shows severe injury collisions up 8% on city streets in 2026

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco is seeing an increase in severe injury traffic collisions in 2026, according to a new report from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, even as overall injury collisions continue to decline.

Residents say the data reflects what they experience on city streets.

"It's kind of dangerous if you are a walker or a biker to be in this city," said San Francisco resident Martin Galaz.

"I look at the crossing across the street, the traffic coming, and if there's someone close coming that is quite like not on the speed I feel comfortable with I make eye contact with that person," said San Francisco resident Quinn Tran.

The SFMTA report, which covers the first half of 2026, found severe injury collisions increased by about 8% compared with the same period last year.

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"This is just more evidence that our city leaders need to take traffic safety incredibly seriously," said Marta Lindsey of Walk SF.

According to the nonprofit Walk SF, 12 pedestrians have died so far this year. At the same point in 2025, nine pedestrians had died.

In a statement, SFMTA said: "Every injury or fatality is one too many. We are investing in solutions that are being applied across a number of projects in San Francisco and will continue to identify where street safety improvements can be implemented."

Many of the most serious crash victims are treated at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. Christopher Colwell, the hospital's chief of emergency medicine, said many cases involve people riding e-scooters or e-bikes without helmets.

"Common severe injury is definitely head injuries. We will sometimes again see internal injuries, liver, spleen, lung injuries when somebody is hit by a car or when they hit a car. But it's more common to have head injuries and facial injuries. We've had a number of people that basically have done face plants as they have gone down hills and really done significant damage to the face, requiring extensive reconstructive surgery," Colwell said.

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The report also highlighted a decline in speeding at locations equipped with speed cameras. Nearly a year after their introduction, speeding dropped by 79% at the sites where cameras were installed.

City leaders are already discussing expanding the speed camera program, a move supported by Walk SF.

"They are changing driver behavior, but they're only up 33 locations," Lindsey said.

SFMTA is scheduled to present the findings to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors' Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee on Thursday. Traffic safety advocates are urging the city to move quickly to implement additional safety improvements.

Full SFMTA statement:

"Safe streets and transit service are our top priorities. We work in close coordination with the SFPD and DPH to build on the safety enhancements that we continue to make and use data to help strengthen our total city approach. Every injury or fatality is one too many. We are investing in solutions that are being applied across a number of projects in San Francisco and will continue to identify where street safety improvements can be implemented. The goal of this work is to keep people safe, and compliments SFPD's traffic enforcement strategy. "

"SFMTA SAFETY STRATEGY

• Safety and transit reliability projects in SFMTA's current budget that will improve 62% percent of San Francisco's High Injury Network.
• Proactive safety investments to create approximately 50 new painted safety zones annually, adding to more than 500 existing protected spaces ready for community-led enhancements.
• More school streets are getting lower speed limits. First round of speed limit changes will begin before schools return in August, with more than 230 public and private schools to benefit from reductions over the next two years
• Lower speed limits on more than 100 miles of safety corridors and neighborhood commercial streets under previous state legislation.
• More than 2300 school intersections have red-curb daylighting to keep crosswalks clear of parked vehicles, with 65% of citywide intersections now completed.
• A new Safe School Connections Plan to improve safe, affordable and active transportation choices for children and families.
• Ongoing investments in speed safety cameras have reduced the share of speeding vehicles by nearly 80 percent at camera locations.
• Completing 700 signal retiming projects to improve pedestrian safety at crosswalks citywide, including 470 on the new High Injury Network.
• Eight new safety and community benefit quick build projects to target high injury streets and address neighborhood priorities, including Mission Bay where safety upgrades will be ready for the new elementary school opening this August.
• Expanding red light camera operations to six new locations this summer, combined with education and engineering efforts, have driven a 70 percent drop in red-light-running injury collisions since 1996."