www.montereycountynow.com JULY 30-AUGUST 5, 2026 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 19 jurisdictions, Lynch’s statement holds up, especially for younger riders— according to the latest data from the California Office of Traffic Safety, which collects collision data and ranks 58 cities and counties in the state from 1 to 58, with 1 being the worst. In 2023, the latest year of aggregated data, Monterey County ranked thirdworst of 58 for pedestrians under ages 15 killed or injured by a vehicle, 26th in the state for pedestrians killed or injured over the age of 65, and 42nd out of 58 for all pedestrians killed or injured in a vehicle collision. For bicycle and vehicle collisions that resulted in death or serious injury, Monterey County ranked 33rd out of 58 in 2023 and 19th in the state for bicyclists under the age of 15 killed or injured by a vehicle. The five-year average of crash rankings from 2019 to 2023 shows Monterey County ranked lower than most California counties of similar size for total fatal and injury crashes, but averaged a ranking of 6 for pedestrians under the age of 15 who were hurt or killed by a vehicle collision. According to a technical memorandum associated with the Monterey County Regional Vision Zero Plan, which uses traffic data gathered from Jan. 1, 2019, to Dec. 31, 2023—and was adopted by the Transportation Agency for Monterey County (TAMC) in March, of the 8,145 total crashes studied in the report, 577 involved pedestrians, and 159 of those incidents led to severe injuries or fatalities. Of the total, 381 crashes involved bicyclists, with 57 resulting in severe injuries or fatalities. Traffic collisions involving automobiles and vulnerable road users, or bicyclists and pedestrians, accounted for about 19 percent of the total fatal and serious crashes in Monterey County. Lynch has been fighting for infrastructural and policy improvements to make the road system safer for pedestrians and cyclists in Monterey County for nearly two decades. “People like me, who persist, persist, persist, even get frustrated and give up on particular issues,” Lynch says. “You can push and push and be amazed at how many years you have to keep trying, whether it’s issues with a particular street or law enforcement.” Lynch understands that bicyclists aren’t the only people on the road that transportation agencies need to consider, given their limited time and funding, but that doesn’t deter her from speaking up. “I get that they have a lot of responsibilities and their hands are often tied by all of the bureaucratic rules and regulations and timeframes, but sometimes there are things that could be so simple to change,” she says, referencing the intersection of Mark Thomas Drive—notorious to bikers for its uneven, slim shoulder—and Aguajito Road in Monterey, where an arrow on Mark Thomas directs bicyclists onto the freeway offramp. “As you’re entering the intersection, the arrow for bikes goes straight like it’s pointing into the freeway. There’s no other option for people who don’t know what they’re supposed to do at that intersection. Simply adding a green bike box there, across the left and right turn lanes, would clear up that confusion.” One improvement Lynch would like to see at every suitable intersection in the county is bike boxes, or a space at the head of traffic lanes that provides a way for cyclists to get ahead of cars while waiting for a traffic signal to change. These green “boxes” are painted on the road at intersections around the county, including in Seaside at Fremont Boulevard and Broadway Avenue, for example. “Intersections are obviously danger points for people on bikes,” Lynch says. Roughly a quarter of traffic fatalities and about half of all traffic injuries in the United States are attributed to intersections, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration. TAMC’s Vision Zero Plan also states that “Crashes involving vulnerable road users most commonly occur at intersections and along roadways that lack safe, dedicated space for walking and bicycling.” A cyclist can do everything right, Lynch points out, but that still doesn’t protect them from “speeding drivers, drunk drivers, texting drivers and so on.” During one of her regular commutes by e-bike, which requires her to travel on Highway 68, she had safely exited the highway when she was nearly struck by a texting driver on a side road. “I actually recognized the person and they told me they were looking at their phone,” she says. “Thank god that person wasn’t going fast. If they were, I’d probably be dead, but because they were going slow, I had time to hop off my bike and get out of their way when they were coming right at me.” The Vision Zero Plan, a component of a worldwide initiative, points out that speed directly influences the severity and likelihood of a crash, as increased speed means it takes more time to stop the vehicle and that a driver’s field of awareness narrows the harder they hit the gas. “Most critically,” the plan states, “higher speeds dramatically elevate the risk of severe injury or death for people walking or biking. Even small “The reason more people don’t bike is primarily the fear of cars, and you can’t blame them.” Mari Lynch (above) advocates for infrastructure improvements including bike boxes (right), spaces designated for bicyclists to get ahead of cars in a safer manner while waiting at an intersection for a traffic signal to change. This one is on Broadway Avenue at Fremont Boulevard in Seaside. ARIC SLEEPER DANIEL DREIFUSS
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