Grand Jury: Vision Zero has Failed in San Francisco

2024–2025 San Francisco Civil Grand Jury Report finds that San Francisco's traffic safety initiative needs an urgent revamp

SAN FRANCISCO, June 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The San Francisco Civil Grand Jury released a report today highlighting a need to improve the city's implementation of the Vision Zero program. Vision Zero was adopted in San Francisco in 2014 with the aim of eliminating traffic deaths by 2024, but, instead, 2024 marked the deadliest year since 2007.

The Grand Jury's investigation, detailed in the report "Failed Vision: Revamping the Roadmap to Safer Streets," highlights critical failures in traffic enforcement that have increased risks to all road users. Over the Vision Zero decade, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) has implemented a range of interventions that have increased street safety, especially for pedestrians and bicyclists, but the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) has virtually stopped enforcing traffic laws. The number of issued traffic citations fell every year after SFPD signed on to Vision Zero, bottoming out at a near-zero level in 2022 and ticking up only slightly since then.

The Jury report calls for a renewed commitment to traffic enforcement from the SFPD; an increase in SFMTA's pace of implementation by planning proactively and building community trust; and greater education both to target high-risk users and to bolster a shared, citywide commitment to safer streets. "At the end of the Vision Zero decade, San Francisco needs to redouble its efforts to make meaningful progress on street safety," said Investigation Committee Chair Katherine Blumberg.

Jury Foreperson Michael Carboy said, "There's a sense of lawlessness on the city streets, due to the almost complete lack of enforcement in recent years. This report highlights how excessive speeding and reckless driving of a few increases risks to everyone—pedestrians, bicyclists and other people in cars."

To make meaningful progress toward Vision Zero goals, the Jury recommends that the city:

• Develop a detailed enforcement strategy, setting clear enforcement goals, creating enforcement accountability, and planning for technology upgrades to improve efficiency.
  
  
• Implement proactive, community-driven engineering interventions to target dangerous conditions before tragedy strikes.
  
  
• Launch sustained public education campaigns to forge a citywide commitment to safer streets.

"San Francisco is at an inflection point, with a new mayor, a new director of transportation, and, soon, a new police chief. While the city looks ahead to the future of Vision Zero, now is not the time to say we failed and back down, but to learn from our mistakes and make a real commitment to safer streets," Blumberg said.

The full report, "Failed Vision: Revamping the Roadmap to Safer Streets," is available today at
https://www.sf.gov/resource--2025--civil-grand-jury-reports-2024-2025

About the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury

The Superior Court selects 19 San Franciscans to serve year-long terms as Civil Grand Jurors. The Jury has the authority to investigate City and County government by reviewing documents and interviewing public officials and private individuals. At the end of its inquiries, the Jury issues reports of its findings and recommendations. Agencies identified in the report must respond to these findings and recommendations within either 60 or 90 days, and the Board of Supervisors conducts a public hearing on each Civil Grand Jury report after those responses are submitted. For more information, visit the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury website: https://civilgrandjury.sfgov.org/

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SOURCE San Francisco Civil Grand Jury