2015 traffic trends in Salinas
Salinas Police and the California Highway Patrol are releasing data about collisions in 2015. Both agencies have seen increases in the number of crashes.
CHP says its hotspots are on Highway 1 between Seaside and Carmel, State Route 183 and Highway 101 between Salinas and Prunedale.
CHP Officer Oscar Loza says 2015 has turned out to be one of the deadliest years.
“In 2014, we had 17 fatal collisions,” Officer Loza said. “In 2015, we had 34.”
That number isn’t a record-breaker. Officer Loza said in 2011, 35 people were killed on local roadways.
Salinas Police Sgt. Gerry Ross said there have been a reported 1,289 collisions in 2015, 40 more than the 2014 total. In fact, the city has several hotspots along the North Main Street corridor, including at Boronda, Laurel and Bernal.
“We seem to have a problem with pedestrians getting hit on the Laurel Extension,” Sgt. Ross said. “Traffic drives faster there, it’s not quite illuminated at night on some of the residential streets.”
Despite the number of collisions, the number of fatalities has gone down from 10 to eight. Part of the decrease, he believes, is because of Natividad Medical Center. The center became a Level II Trauma Center about a year ago.
