Berkeley crashes injured more people in 2024

The scene of a collision on San Pablo Avenue at Cedar Street last August that brought an end to a high speed police chase. Credit: Adahlia Cole

Traffic crashes in Berkeley ended in injuries in 2024 more frequently than in any year since 2018, even though the total number of crashes remained roughly the same as the past few years, according to the Berkeley Police Department’s annual report. Injury crashes the last three years are in the same range as they were before the pandemic.

Berkeley set a goal in 2019 of completely eliminating fatalities and severe injuries related to traffic collisions by 2028, but nevertheless sees several fatal crashes most years. Four people were killed in traffic crashes last year, up from none in 2023. There were two fatal crashes in 2022, and seven in 2021. There has already been one traffic death this year as well.

The number of injury crashes changed little from 2011 to 2019, then plummeted during the pandemic, data from the department’s Transparency Hub show. It has rebounded since then, reaching 564 in 2024, a six-year high.

Credit: City of Berkeley

Arlo Malmberg, manager for BPD’s Office of Strategic Planning and Accountability, said “There was no singular factor that we identified as driving the increase” in injuries over 2023.

Motorists — as opposed to cyclists, pedestrians, objects or some other party or factor — were responsible for 90.1% of crashes in 2024, up from 79.%% in 2023 and 83.24% the year before. Those figures do not include information on how frequently, for example, motorists are the only parties involved.

Berkeley has pledged to try to eliminate fatal crashes, like the one that killed Ben Brown in 2024, by the year 2028. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/CatchLight Local

The agency began tracking injury severity in 2023, and in about two-thirds of cases injuries are only minor. Serious or fatal injuries made up approximately 13% of injury crashes both years.

The top collision location for 2024 was the intersection at Ashby and San Pablo avenues with the most collisions (16), collisions with injuries (10) and total injuries (17) this year.

Credit: City of Berkeley

The intersection at Gilman Street and San Pablo Avenue saw the most suspected serious injuries. The top collision spot for 2023 was University Avenue and Acton Street, with 11 total crashes, nine injury crashes and 14 total injuries. That intersection was one of two targeted in 2023 for safety upgrades around AC Transit bus stops.

The intersection at Gilman Street and San Pablo Avenue saw the highest number of crash-related serious injuries, police said. Unsafe speed remained the most common primary collision factor this year.

Berkeley police have a “community traffic concern survey” available on the agency’s Transparency Hub.