The ‘Slow Our Streets’ campaign
Year after year, the #1 cause of severe and fatal traffic crashes in San Francisco is speeding.
The faster a driver is going, the more likely a crash is to occur and the more serious the consequences. A driver has a smaller scope of vision, less time to react, and can’t stop the vehicle as quickly. And the human body can’t withstand the additional force as speeds rise.
For every mile faster a driver goes, the threat rises quickly. Doubling a car’s speed quadruples its kinetic energy, making the stakes increasingly high above 25 MPH.
By 40 MPH, about 75% of pedestrians will suffer a life-threatening injury or die if hit. This likely underestimates risk because the studies this is based on do not take into account how much larger and heavier vehicles are today. The average American passenger vehicle is now 8 inches taller and 1,000 pounds heavier than it was three decades ago. SUVs and trucks are now the dominant type of vehicle, making up almost 75% of the market share.
The threat of dangerous speeding is growing
It’s not just that vehicles are bigger and heavier, making crashes even deadlier for those outside the vehicle.
It’s also easier than ever for drivers to dangerously accelerate, and too often, they do. The automobile industry continues to design vehicles that are dramatically faster than in previous generations. The average American vehicle from model year 2021 could reach 60 mph in 7.7 seconds. This is about twice as fast as cars purchased in the early 1980s. Electric vehicles are even faster than the average American vehicle, with many reaching 60 MPH in only a few seconds.
We need to slow our streets to save lives
In 2024, 42 people were killed in traffic crashes in San Francisco – the highest in a decade. More than 500 people were severely injured in traffic crashes.
Many of these crashes could have been prevented or been much less severe if the driver had been going slower. In fact, reducing average speed on city streets by just 1 MPH reduces injury collisions by 2-7%.
Safe streets depend on safe speeds. That’s why with the support of our members, Walk SF launched the #SlowOurStreets campaign in 2020 to win every possible speed-slowing solution.
The ‘Slow Our Streets’ campaign in 2026
This year, the Slow Our Streets campaign is building on the launch of lifesaving speed cameras in San Francisco. Speed camera citation data and speed surveys show speed cameras are doing exactly what we hoped they would: significantly changing driver behavior. As of August 2025, speeding has decreased by 72% on average across the 15 speed camera locations where the SFMTA did before-and-after speed surveys. Plus, two-thirds of vehicles that received a warning or citation have not received a second.
Walk SF is building a San Francisco-grown movement of community values around safe speeds that engages neighborhoods, schools, and more.
At the same time, we’re pushing for speed solutions to be at the heart of the City’s traffic safety plan. We want to see the City dramatically scale up street design changes that keep drivers going safe speeds, like turn calming, lane reductions, lower speed limits, speed humps, and more.
The ‘Slow Our Streets’ campaign since 2020
Since launching the Slow Our Streets campaign, Walk SF has:
Coauthored and championed multiple state bills to allow speed cameras to be piloted in San Francisco; Governor Newsom signed AB 645 in 2023. There are now lifesaving speed cameras at 33 locations in San Francisco. Learn more.
Released a groundbreaking report on speed in San Francisco. This report, Making San Francisco a ‘Safe Speeds City’: Solutions to Slow Our Streets and Save Lives, included our findings from speed surveys on 47 streets.
Helped pass state legislation allowing San Francisco to lower speed limits on certain types of streets. Now we’re pushing the City to max out this new authority on every street possible. Learn more about AB 43.
Supported and shaped San Francisco’s permanent Slow Streets program. Walk SF helped bring together a broad coalition of groups to win not just a permanent Slow Streets program, but one with strong design standards to keep speeds slow and traffic levels low. Slow Streets have shown dramatic reductions in traffic injuries since, showing what’s possible on other streets, too.
Coauthored state legislation in 2024 requiring ‘Intelligent Speed Assistance’ in new California vehicles. While Governor Newsom ultimately vetoed the bill, our coalition-building and media work changed the national conversation around the role of vehicle safety technology in reducing speeding. Learn more about our SB 961 campaign.
Advocated for the San Francisco Police Department to focus limited traffic enforcement on the most dangerous driving behaviors, especially speeding. With traffic enforcement at dramatically lower levels than a decade ago, Walk SF continues to hold the SFPD accountable for more strategic and consistent traffic enforcement.
Support the Slow Our Streets campaign
This campaign is powered by people like you who support safe speeds in San Francisco. Support the Slow Our Streets campaign with a donation today.