North Berkeley: 3 crashes on Rose Street in just 4 days
One longtime resident called it "worrisome news for walkers and bikers."
A trio of traffic collisions on a short stretch of Rose Street in North Berkeley led to injuries for pedestrians and a cyclist last week, including an older man and a middle schooler on a scooter.
Berkeley police said the injuries were mostly minor — but community members said they still found the trend concerning.
"This slew of three collisions over just four days underscores the ongoing traffic safety crisis on Rose and other high injury streets across Berkeley," said Walk Bike Berkeley, a local advocacy group for traffic safety. "Last year Ben Brown was killed when a motorist hit him while he was walking across Rose. The city missed a key opportunity to add safety features on Rose Street when the road was repaved in 2023."
Read more about traffic safety in Berkeley.
The collisions took place between Sunday, Sept. 21, and Wednesday, Sept. 24, over less than a mile of Rose Street.
Multiple people asked The Scanner for additional details and said the crashes seemed to indicate a troubling trend.
One longtime Berkeley resident called the reports "worrisome news for walkers and bikers."
On Sept. 21, Berkeley police responded to Rose and Acton streets at about 4:40 p.m. after a driver in a Toyota Rav4 ran into "parked vehicles, a pedestrian and a bicyclist," coming to rest just short of a house.
The driver had been northbound on Acton, about to turn left onto Rose, "when she lost control of her vehicle and collided with a southbound vehicle (Toyota Prius) in the intersection as well as a bicyclist [and] a vehicle parked just west of Acton Street."
The driver then continued into the front yard of a home on Rose Street, knocking down portions of its brick wall.
The driver, an 84-year-old Berkeley woman, was taken to a local hospital for a back injury.
Police said the cyclist was medically evaluated and released at the scene.
"I know that community concerns are high and that this looked very serious," Berkeley Police Chief Jen Louis said. "I can share that fortunately there were only minor injuries."
Nearly 48 hours later, on Sept. 23 at about 3:10 p.m., Berkeley police responded to Rose just west of McGee Avenue for a crash involving a driver and a middle schooler on a scooter.
The boy had been riding west on Rose approaching a car that was stopped in traffic and was unable to stop before rear-ending it, BPD said.
The boy was evaluated at the scene by the Berkeley Fire Department for a complaint of pain to his leg.
Emilie Raguso
The last crash — a hit-and-run involving a 68-year-old pedestrian — happened Sept. 24 at about 6:15 a.m. at Rose and Henry streets.
"Officers conducted an extensive area check, but did not locate the suspect," police said. (The investigation is ongoing.)
According to initial reports, the pedestrian had been crossing the street when a driver struck him at about 20 mph, then dragged him "underneath the car on the asphalt." He never lost consciousness.
BPD said the man's injuries did not appear to be life threatening. BFD took him to Highland Hospital for treatment.
This week, Councilwoman Shoshana O'Keefe said she'd been working with residents and city staff since she took office last year to push for safety improvements on Rose Street.
"Some of those improvements have already been enacted, such as several new crosswalks, daylighting and improved signage," she said Monday. "Others have yet to be implemented, such as a much called for new crosswalk across Rose at McGee."
O'Keefe said she is now working closely with Berkeley police and the Public Works department "to see what other safety improvements may be necessary."
"I take the issue of traffic safety extremely seriously," O'Keefe said.
In its recent statement, Walk Bike Berkeley urged the city to take action to make the streets safer for everyone, with a renewed focus on its Vision Zero plan, to end serious and fatal crashes in Berkeley, in particular.
"Walk Bike Berkeley calls on the City to redouble its Vision Zero road safety efforts, including forming the long-delayed Vision Zero coordinating committee and streamlining delivery of basic traffic calming features on bicycle boulevards."
