Safe Streets Map
AboutAn independent project

About Safe Streets Map

Every crash in California that police report ends up in a public state database. Almost nobody reads it. We turn it into maps that show where people walking, cycling and riding motorcycles keep getting hurt, what usually goes wrong at each spot, and what to watch for there. Each city also has a page of car crash statistics: how many crashes of every kind, at what time and for what main cause.
People cycling on a city street

What you can do here

  • Walking map: pedestrian crash hotspots, explained. 64,774 crashes involving people on foot off freeways, 2021–2026.
  • Cycling map: bike crash hotspots, plus car-free paths and quieter streets. 58,317 crashes involving people on bikes, 2021–2026.
  • Motorcycling map: where riders crash and the high-speed stroads behind many of those crashes.
  • City pages for 334 cities (walking) and 332 cities (cycling): the worst spots in each city, ranked, with what goes wrong there.

What this isn't

It isn't a navigation app, and a street without dots isn't a promise that it's safe. Busy streets show more crashes partly because more people use them. The point is to know which spots deserve extra attention, and why, so you can cross, ride and plan with your eyes open.

Where the data comes from

Crash records come from the California Crash Reporting System (CCRS), which the state publishes on data.ca.gov from reports filed by the CHP and local police. Streets, paths and bike lanes come from OpenStreetMap. Many city police departments send reports without map locations; we place those at the intersection the report names, found in OpenStreetMap, and the few whose streets can't be found are left out. Each city page says what share of its reports is on the map. Read how the data works.

Who builds it

Safe Streets Map is designed and built by Nando, a software developer who grew up in Los Angeles and has been riding there for decades, on a Ritchey Swiss Cross bike and a Honda CB500F motorcycle.

  • A black Ritchey Swiss Cross gravel bike at an overlook, downtown Los Angeles and the mountains behind
    The Ritchey Swiss Cross, downtown LA behind
  • A black Honda CB500F with a top case parked at a mountain pullout, snow on the peaks behind
    The CB500F at a mountain pullout
  • A black Honda CB500F parked on a dirt pad in open desert scrub, a white helmet on the mirror
    The CB500F out in the desert

How the site is built is written up on Casa Dev, which takes on data-heavy web projects like this one.

Get in touch

Safe Streets Map is an independent project. If a hotspot looks wrong or a street has changed, email contact@safestreetsmap.com.