The national transportation research group TRIP collects data from the Federal Highway Administration to analyze roads and infrastructure in cities and counties in the United States. For the second year in a row, TRIP has rated San Francisco, Oakland, and the greater Bay Area region as some of the worst roads and infrastructure in the country. The Bay Area has also consistently placed in the bottom five for road quality and infrastructure design each year for nearly a decade.
TRIP bases its rankings on how much the average motorist needs to pay per year to perform vehicle maintenance attributed to poorly maintained streets and highways. According to TRIP, each car owner in the Bay Area spends close to $1,000 a year for maintenance that is preventable with better roads and highways. Problems are potholes, sinkholes, and metal debris scattered across highway lanes.
Poor Infrastructure Increases Accident Likelihood
The TRIP analysis of San Francisco-Oakland roadways will likely cause most residents to feel frustrated about the money spent on maintenance. It may also spark concern, as poor infrastructure can be linked to dangerous accidents.
Deteriorated street surfaces can cause a motorist to lose control of their vehicle, resulting in a car accident. In addition, inadequate infrastructure and roadway planning places bicyclists and pedestrians at risk as they are forced to share busy roads with automobiles or navigate sections without dedicated lanes or crosswalks. The noticeably high number of bicycle accidents in San Francisco could be attributed to the same problems TRIP found in their research. In order to prevent accidents and protect residents, funds may need to be directed towards improving Bay Area streets.
For more information about this story, you can read an article published by the SFGate here. If you have been hurt in a pedestrian, bicyclist, or car accident on the streets of the Bay Area, Rouda Feder Tietjen & McGuinn and our San Francisco personal injury lawyers can provide legal counsel. Call 415.940.7176 or contact us online today.