PUBLIC SAFETY

After record fatal crashes in 2024, Salem police plan to focus on traffic safety

The Salem Police Department will focus on addressing traffic safety for the next three years after responding to a record 21 fatal crashes during 2024. 

The new focus is part of the department’s upcoming strategic plan for 2025-27, which will be released at the end of March, according to department spokeswoman Angela Hedrick. It includes having all patrol officers focus on traffic enforcement, not just those assigned to a department traffic team.

The emphasis on traffic safety comes after 28 people died in and around Salem in fatal crashes last year, according to a Salem Reporter analysis of police and Oregon Department of Transportation data. Salem police responded to a majority of those crashes, which killed 22 people.

Those killed include Teresita Millard, 67, a beloved aunt who was picking up her husband’s medication when a driver struck her; Judith A. Brunkal, 84, who served as a board director for the Salem Audubon Society and Lynda Rohrback Bush, 81, a local volunteer who led the creation of a dog area at Orchard Heights Park. 

So far this year, drivers have hit and killed two pedestrians in Salem. A Gervais man was charged with manslaughter for a Jan. 16 crash on North Lancaster Drive, and a Cherriots bus driver hit and killed a pedestrian Wednesday while making a right turn in downtown Salem.

Salem police Deputy Chief Treven Upkes called 2024 an “outlier” compared to the last few years. The department typically has seen about 15 fatal crashes per year. 

“It’s really kind of continued to be this trend coming out of Covid where people are disregarding common-sense driving and I think that’s led to quite a few of the crashes that we’ve seen,” Upkes said. 

During 2024, more people died from fatal crashes than by homicide in Salem.

There is a gap between that reality and the community’s consciousness, said Ian Davidson, vice president of the Cherriots’ board of directors and co-founder of Salem Bike Vision. He said people believe that gun violence is a bigger threat to people’s lives than being on the road. 

“We’ve normalized it to where we don’t think about it anymore … we’re losing something as a result of that,” Davidson said, referring to crash fatalities. “As a result, we just, I guess, collectively agreed that we’re okay with 22 people dying every year.”

The reason for 2024’s record number is thought to be a combination of a few traffic safety factors.

Upkes and Davidson both cited driver behavior as one of the largest factors in fatal crashes, whether it is speeding, disobeying traffic laws or distracted driving. Davidson believes that dangerous road design is another large factor in traffic fatalities.

“Fatal crashes are functionally a function of speed, it’s the cruel reality of physics,” Davidson said. “Mass, accelerated, is killing people.”

Police traffic team

The police traffic team includes six officers and one sergeant who enforce traffic safety rules and respond to crash scenes. During 2024, the team had four officers and became fully staffed at the beginning of January. 

Upkes oversees the department’s field operations, which includes the traffic team.

Each officer on the team has a specialty, Upkes said, whether it’s working with local hospitals, writing and issuing warrants or investigating potential intoxication. 

When the team responds to a crash, they divide responsibilities and assess the scene. The traffic team started using drones at crashes around five years ago, which improves the evidence collected and leads to more efficient work.

After police clear the scene, the resulting investigation depends on the number of vehicles and fatalities and if a driver was intoxicated. In 2024, there were two fatal crashes in which drivers were suspected or accused of driving under the influence.

In its 2022-2024 strategic plan, the department identified traffic safety as a key area to address. The plan said the department should use data to identify common areas for crashes, create educational campaigns and prioritize funding and staffing the traffic team, which has stayed the same size for around 20 years.

According to Upkes and Hedrick, the department did not reach its previous goal of prioritizing the traffic team due to low staffing and resources. 

The strategic plan for 2025-2027 will push for a stronger department-wide focus on traffic safety, Upkes said. Officers, regardless of whether they are on the traffic team, will prioritize enforcing traffic laws while on patrol. 

Upkes also said that the department will do distracted driving and pedestrian safety campaigns as part of the focus on traffic enforcement. Distracted driving is usually thought to be cell phone use, but it includes eating, drinking, applying makeup or having pets in the driver’s lap.

In his personal life, Upkes said, he’s seen people drive while playing musical instruments.

“People have to relearn to focus on what they’re doing,” he said. “You’re driving a 4,000 pound missile down the roadway that’s gonna hurt anybody that it hits. Pay attention to doing that.”

Distracted driving and speeding were especially prominent earlier in the year, according to Upkes, who said it was what made 2024 see such an increase in fatal crashes.

In the fall and winter, police usually see more pedestrian crashes due to weather conditions and less daylight. But last year, eight pedestrians were hit and killed in Salem before August, according to data analyzed by Salem Reporter.

In total, nine pedestrians died in fatal crashes last year. That number has usually been around five over the last several years, according to Oregon Department of Transportation data.

“I think what was unique about this year is that we hit every category: single vehicle, multiple vehicle, bicyclist, motorcycle solo, motorcycle car, and then the biggest category, at 33%, was our pedestrian-motor vehicle,” Hedrick said. 

One of the biggest changes Upkes hopes to see for the traffic team is an additional officer dedicated to DUI enforcement who could identify behavior of an intoxicated driver and prevent potential crashes. The new officer position would have to be funded through a state grant.

The department got five state grants in October 2024 which are going towards enforcing speeding, distracted and impaired driving, pedestrian safety and passenger safety, Hedrick said in an email.

Looking forward

Outside of police efforts, city officials and other local leaders are working towards changing road design and speed limits to lower risks for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists. 

Davidson helped start Salem Bike Vision around 2021 to propose protected cross-town corridors for cyclists to get around the city safely.

According to Davidson, one of the flaws in Salem’s road design is the lack of buffered or protected bike lanes. Last year, drivers struck and killed two bicyclists.

The city recently added buffered bike lanes on Southeast Commercial Street after identifying a need for lanes several years ago. In August, the buffered lanes were added from Madrona Avenue to Oxford Street.

Several areas in Salem, such as Northeast Commercial and Liberty streets and Front Street, have lanes that are 12 feet wide, which is the same width as interstate lanes. 

Davidson believes this road design gives drivers the feeling that they can drive faster since there is more room in the lane. Narrowing lanes to 10 or 11 feet wide on busy streets, including some that run through downtown, could help discourage speeding, Davidson said.

“Everybody … is a pedestrian or a cyclist at some point, even if they primarily experience life transporting themselves by car,” Davidson said. “So designing a world that is safe for pedestrians is to everyone’s benefit.”

He said he sees distracted driving as a large problem, but believes that even with fewer distractions, drivers would still speed.

Even in residential areas, where many posted speed limits are 25 mph, speeding can be fatal.

“The deadliest day for kids is Halloween, and that’s because that’s the day that kids are most likely to be walking around in their neighborhoods, which is an awfully morbid fact,” Davidson said. Children pedestrians are three times more likely to die in a fatal crash on Halloween compared to other days of the year.

Many of Davidson’s suggestions for road design are reflected in a recent plan from the Salem area’s metropolitan planning organization.

The organization, the Salem-Keizer Area Transportation Study, finished its safety action plan that recommends officials focus on a list of researched and effective solutions, including reducing neighborhood speed limits, narrowing lanes and expanding buffered bike lanes.

The 2024 Metropolitan Transportation Safety Action Plan is meant to guide city and county officials as they look for traffic projects to prioritize. Julie Hanson, Salem’s transportation planning manager, told Salem Reporter in August that the city uses the plan to guide city spending on traffic infrastructure.  

One upcoming project funded by the city’s safety and livability bond is the addition of bike lanes on State Street from Northeast 13th to 17th Streets. Another project on Southeast McGilchrist Street will repave the roads and designate sidewalk space for cyclists.

In 2023, the city of Salem received $2.8 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to launch a plan to reduce speed limits, speed radar devices and roll out a public education campaign. The plan, called “Vision Zero,” is part of a city effort to reduce traffic fatalities to zero by 2033

The city said it will install 3,600 signs reducing 25 mph speed limits to 20 mph on residential streets around Salem. As part of an initiative in 2024, the city added a three-second head start for pedestrians at crosswalks around downtown Salem.

UPDATE: This story was updated with more information from the Salem Police Department about the 2022-24 strategic plan and grants received from ODOT.

Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected].

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Madeleine Moore is working as a reporter at Salem Reporter through the University of Oregon’s Charles Snowden internship program. She came to Salem after graduating from the University of Oregon in June 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.