San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose car accident guide and data hub

If you were just in a crash somewhere between the Golden Gate and South San Jose, the next few days matter more than they should have to. This page pulls together the local crash data and the specific roads where wrecks cluster, plus the California rules and deadlines that decide what happens to your claim. It covers the three cities that anchor this region: San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose.

The local crash picture

Start with the state. California recorded 4,061 traffic deaths in 2023, down about 11 percent from 4,539 the year before, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety.¹ Pedestrians made up a large share of that toll, with 1,106 people killed while walking in 2023 per UC Berkeley's SafeTREC.² Both figures matter here, because the Bay Area's dense, walkable streets put people on foot close to fast traffic.

San Francisco had its deadliest year in nearly two decades. The city logged 43 traffic deaths in 2024, the most since 2007.³ Twenty-four of the people killed were pedestrians, also the worst pedestrian toll since 2007, including a family of four struck at a West Portal bus stop by a car that left the roadway.³ San Francisco adopted Vision Zero in 2014 with a goal of zero traffic deaths by the end of 2024. It did not come close.

San Jose, the largest city in the region, recorded 49 traffic deaths in 2024, the same count as 2023 and down from a record 65 in 2022.⁴ Speed drives much of it. Thirty-nine of the 2024 deaths happened on streets posted at 35 mph or higher.⁴

Oakland tracks its danger by corridor rather than by a single annual headline. The city's 2024 High Injury Network, built from crash data spanning 2017 through 2021, found that roughly 8 percent of Oakland's street miles account for about 60 percent of its most serious and fatal crashes.⁵

Where the crashes cluster

The pattern is the same in all three cities. A small slice of streets carries most of the harm.

In San Francisco, the High Injury Network is about 13 percent of city streets, with heavy concentrations in the Tenderloin and South of Market.³

San Jose names the problem directly. The city's Vision Zero program tracks 17 Priority Safety Corridors, the major streets where deaths and severe injuries pile up. They include Monterey Road, Capitol Expressway, Story Road, King Road, McLaughlin Avenue, Senter Road, the Santa Clara Street and Alum Rock Avenue line, White Road, McKee Road, Blossom Hill Road, and Almaden Expressway.⁴⁶ Monterey Road and Capitol Expressway turn up again and again in the city's fatal-crash records.

Oakland's high-injury corridors read like a list of its main arterials: International Boulevard, MacArthur Boulevard, Foothill Boulevard, San Pablo Avenue, Bancroft Avenue, and 73rd Avenue all sit on the network.⁵ International Boulevard has long been one of the deadliest streets in the East Bay.

If you drive these roads daily, none of this is abstract.

What is changing on the streets

California opened the door to automated speed enforcement in 2023 with Assembly Bill 645, which authorizes a speed safety camera pilot in six cities: San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Los Angeles, Glendale, and Long Beach.⁷ The law caps cameras by population, so San Francisco and San Jose can each run up to 33 systems and Oakland up to 18.⁷ San Francisco moved first, with the SFMTA authorized to place 33 cameras aimed at its High Injury Network.⁸ The systems start with warnings before fines. A ticket from one of these is a civil penalty rather than a moving violation, so it does not add points to your license.

What to do after a crash here

Stop, check for injuries, and call 911 if anyone is hurt. Inside the cities that brings the local police (SFPD, OPD, or SJPD); on the freeways and state routes it is the California Highway Patrol. Get the report number before you leave the scene.

Then mind a deadline most people miss. California requires you to file a form SR-1 with the DMV within 10 days of any crash that injures or kills someone, or that causes more than $1,000 in property damage.⁹ That is a low bar, and a single bent fender can clear it. The SR-1 is separate from the police report and from anything you tell your insurer, and failing to file it can cost you your license.

Photograph everything while you are still there: vehicle positions, damage, license plates, the intersection, skid marks, and the other driver's insurance card. Bay Area intersections change fast, and the scene will not look the same tomorrow.

Your deadlines and the rules that decide your claim

Three California rules shape almost every car-accident claim in this region.

The filing deadline is two years. Under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1, you generally have two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit.¹⁰ Miss that window and a court can dismiss the case no matter how badly you were hurt.

Fault gets split by percentage. California follows pure comparative negligence, a rule the state Supreme Court set in Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975), so your recovery is reduced by your own share of fault but never erased by it.¹¹ If the insurer pins 30 percent of the blame on you, that trims your recovery by 30 percent instead of ending it.

The other driver may carry very little coverage. As of January 1, 2025, California's minimum auto liability limits rose to $30,000 per person, $60,000 per accident, and $15,000 for property damage under Senate Bill 1107, the first increase since 1967.¹² Serious injuries routinely run past those limits, which is why your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage often matters more than the at-fault driver's policy.

Getting help

You do not need a lawyer for a minor fender-bender you can settle on your own. For a crash with real injuries, or a fault dispute where the insurer is lowballing a policy that won't cover your bills, talk to someone who handles these claims in your county. You can start with the thatcarhitme.com legal directory.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

1. California Office of Traffic Safety, Traffic Safety Score Card. https://www.ots.ca.gov/ots-and-traffic-safety/score-card/

2. UC Berkeley SafeTREC, 2025 Traffic Safety Facts: Pedestrian Safety. https://safetrec.berkeley.edu/2025-safetrec-traffic-safety-facts-pedestrian-safety

3. Vision Zero SF, 2024 End of Year Traffic Fatality Report (SFMTA, SFDPH, SFPD). https://www.visionzerosf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Vision-Zero-2024-End-of-Year-Traffic-Fatality-Report.pdf

4. City of San Jose, Vision Zero Action Plan 2025. https://www.sanjoseca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/118265/638761805841100000

5. City of Oakland, 2024 High Injury Network. https://www.oaklandca.gov/Public-Safety-Streets/Traffic-Safety/2024-High-Injury-Network-HIN

6. City of San Jose, Vision Zero Safety Corridors (GIS Open Data). https://gisdata-csj.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/vision-zero-safety-corridors

7. California Legislature, Assembly Bill 645 (2023-2024), Vehicles: speed safety system pilot program. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB645

8. SFMTA, Speed Safety Cameras Are Coming to San Francisco With New State Law. https://www.sfmta.com/blog/speed-safety-cameras-are-coming-san-francisco-new-state-law

9. California DMV, Report of Traffic Accident Occurring in California (SR-1). https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv-virtual-office/accident-reporting/

10. California Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&sectionNum=335.1

11. Li v. Yellow Cab Co., 13 Cal.3d 804 (1975), Supreme Court of California, via Justia. https://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/3d/13/804.html

12. California Legislature, Senate Bill 1107 (2021-2022), Protect California Drivers Act. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB1107