A new crackdown on speeders is coming to some areas of San Francisco.
Under a new plan, police officers will be focusing on 10 of the most dangerous intersections in the city.
Among the problematic intersections officers will be focusing on is Mission and Ninth streets in the South of Market neighborhood. One shop worker said drivers tend to speed through the lights when making a right turn off Mission.
Another problematic intersection set to get more police attention is Market and Octavia streets at the Highway 101 on-ramp. According to police data, that intersection has racked up 13 crashes since January 2022, the most at any intersection in the city.
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According to police, the traffic enforcement effort has already started and will continue to increase, especially at the 10 intersections the department has identified.
According to a 32-page plan put together by the police commander overseeing the department's traffic division, officers will be conducting what the department calls "enforcement waves," which will include saturation patrols, at the 10 intersections. Each of the intersections has been the scene of at least 10 crashes in the last two years.
"Having our SFPD go out there and focus on those streets that are the most dangerous streets, that are not designed for safety over speed, those are the places that it does make sense for our SFPD to be doing enforcement to curb that dangerous behavior," said Jodie Medeiros with Walk SF.
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It is a reversal of a downward trend in traffic tickets. According to police data, the number of traffic citations officers write has dropped by 96% over the past decade. The department said it is partially because of a drop in staffing and new regulations.
Supervisor Rafael Mandelman said the plan and a recent effort by officers to get out and enforce traffic violations is an improvement.
"I guess where I am is cautious optimism," he said. "I think even with their resource constraints, they do appear to have made progress in the last few months. They do seem to have a plan to do better over this year."
Mandelman said he will hold a hearing in six months to monitor the department's progress with the new plan to focus on problematic intersections.
