DATA STORY
Percentage of citations for the top five causes of collisions
Average percentage and number of traffic citations issued for the top five causes of collisions.
Controller's OfficeMeasure description
This measure looks at the percentage of all traffic tickets given for the five main reasons crashes happen in San Francisco. This is a key output indicator of the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD)’s progress in preventing collisions to further the City’s Vision Zero initiative. The initiative is often referred to as "Focus on the Five".
Why the measure is important
In 2012, the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency (SFMTA) analyzed police data about traffic collisions in San Francisco. The agency identified the five most common causes of collisions and injuries — speeding, violating pedestrian right-of-way in a crosswalk, running red lights, running stop signs, and failing to yield while turning.
The SFPD commits to issuing at least half of traffic citations for these five violations.
Enforcement is a key aspect of the Vision Zero Safe Systems approach. Tracking the Percentage and Number of Citations for the Top Five Causes of Collisions provides the public, elected officials, and City staff with a current snapshot of SFPD’s progress in this area.
The interactive charts below present the Percentage and Number of Citations for the Top Five Causes of Collisions.
Percentage and number of citations for the top five causes of collisions
Navigating dashboards with a keyboard
- Control + Enter to enter the dashboard
- Tab or Arrow to move between visuals
- Control + Right arrow to enter a visual or filter
- Escape to exit a visual, filter or dashboard
Navigating within a visual or filter
- Tab or Arrow to move around a table or visual
- Enter to select within a table or visual
- Spacebar to select or deselect a filter
The top chart’s legend is below:
- Y-axis: Percentage of total traffic citations that are for the top 5 causes of collisions
- X-axis: Calendar years
The bottom chart’s legend is below:
- Y-axis: Number of citations by calendar month
- X-axis: Calendar years
How performance is measured
The percentage of “Focus on the Five” citations is calculated using the following methodology:
- Monthly total “Focus on the Five” citations divided by the total citations issued.
The number of “Focus on the Five” citations is calculated using the following methodology:
- Monthly total “Focus on the Five” citations.
Police officers issue both virtual and handwritten citations. The San Francisco Police Department reports these results online every month. Download the latest traffic violation reports from SFPD's website. The Controller's Office compiles this data to create the charts on this page.
The number displayed on the Transit and Street Safety scorecard page represents a fiscal year average of the values in the first chart above.
Data notes and sources
Data for this measure comes from SFPD’s website. This measure is reported with a two-month lag. For example, May’s data will be available at the end of July.
Additional information
- Find monthly traffic violation reports on SFPD's website.
- Learn about the SFPD's police districts.
- Learn more about the City's Vision Zero initiative.
- View Traffic Crash data on DataSF.
- Read the Controller's Office 2017 report about San Francisco's "Focus on the Five" strategy
City Performance Scorecards
This page is part of the City Performance Scorecards.
Return to the Transportation Scorecard.
Return to the City Performance Scorecards Home Page.