In 2024, 58 people were killed in traffic crashes on Portland streets according to the Portland 2024 Deadly Traffic Crash Report, a decline of 19 percent from a record high 69 traffic deaths in 2023 and the lowest count since there were 54 killed in 2020. This is still significantly higher than the average 41 killed in the five years before the pandemic, 2015-19.

Most of the decline in deadly crashes was among people traveling in motor vehicles. There were 23 killed in crashes while traveling in motor vehicles last year, 28% fewer than the year before, while deaths among people traveling by other transportation modes held about the same as the year before.

Wide, multilane streets and high speeds continue to be consistent risk factors contributing to traffic deaths. In 2024, 71% of traffic deaths occurred on Portland’s 30 deadliest streets and intersections known as the High Crash Network. At least 48% of traffic deaths involved speeding or excessive speeding.

Nearly half of traffic deaths took place in District 1, Portland’s most eastern City Council district, located mostly east of Interstate 205.

This pattern corresponds with neighborhoods with more people of color and people living on low incomes -- areas that have high scores on the PBOT Equity Matrix, which combines a variety of federal data sources to show the demographics of different parts of Portland. In 2024, areas with high Equity Matrix scores had six times more traffic deaths per capita than the rest of Portland. This rate doubled from 2023 when it was three times higher.

"While the 19% reduction in traffic deaths in 2024 is a step forward, every life lost remains a tragedy," Mayor Keith Wilson said. "The City of Portland is committed to Vision Zero, the philosophy that every traffic death is preventable through the right combination of infrastructure, education and enforcement.”

"Traffic safety isn’t just the work of one bureau—it’s a citywide commitment," said Deputy City Administrator of Public Works Priya Dhanapal. "Every traffic death is preventable, and through Vision Zero, we are taking action to make our streets safer. From investing in smart infrastructure to enhancing enforcement and promoting responsible driving, we are working every day to create a city where no one has to risk their life just to get where they’re going."

"When PBOT has funding to make our streets safer, we see results," PBOT Director Millicent Williams said. "We are gratified to see traffic deaths decline, but one year does not make a trend. We encourage everyone to continue to be conscientious, to drive with caution, and look out for pedestrians and people biking."

It takes years for patterns to emerge, but the data available for 2024 appear to point to several persistent trends:

High crash streets and intersections: 71% of traffic deaths occurred on Portland’s highest crash streets and intersections. This remains consistently high over the years. Between 2020 and 2024, an average of 67% of deadly crashes took place on the High Crash Network, PBOT's grouping of streets and intersections.

Speeding: Speed continues to be a top contributing factor in deadly crashes in Portland. In 2024, at least 48% of traffic deaths involved speeding or excessive speeds, which refers to people driving at extreme speeds for the conditions as well as dangerous driving behavior.

Pedestrians overrepresented: In 2024, pedestrians accounts for 36% of traffic crash deaths, with 22 pedestrians killed in crashes. Pedestrian deaths have risen significantly since 2020, averaging 24 deaths per year from 2020 to 2024, compared to 15 per year between 2015 and 2019. However, 2024 marks the second consecutive year with fewer pedestrian deaths since the peak of 28 in 2022.

Dark conditions: In 2024, 83% percent of traffic deaths occurred in nighttime conditions—during dusk, night, and dawn—with a five-year average of 74%. Of all pedestrian deaths, 86% occurred in nighttime conditions, with a five-year average of 87%

Single vehicle crashes: In the past five years, 19% of all traffic deaths were from single-vehicle crashes. This is where someone driving or riding a motorcycle crashes into a fixed object or leaves the road. This type of traffic death dropped slightly in 2024, the first time there’s been a drop since 2018. Speeding and impairment are typical factors in these crashes.

Impaired driving: Impaired drivers under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs remains a top contributing factor to deadly crashes in Portland. For crashes with known toxicology information, 31% involved an impaired driver. Thirteen people were killed in these crashes. (There is a significant delay in this data as police and medical examiner investigations are ongoing.)

Property taxes and income taxes do not fund transportation improvements in Portland. Where funds are available, through State and Federal grants, Portland’s Cannabis Tax, or the Fixing Our Streets local gas tax, PBOT makes targeted, data-driven investments in safety improvements on Portland’s most dangerous streets.

Despite the high number of deaths, there are signs of progress in making the kinds of improvements that national studies show will make our streets safer.

PBOT reorganizes roads by changing lane configurations, restriping, and/or building new safety infrastructure. Fewer lanes and shorter crossings make it safer and easier for pedestrians and people biking to cross. Roadway space can also be repurposed to add on-street parking, add or improve bike lanes, create a center turn lane, bus platforms, plant trees, treat storm water, build new sidewalks or widen existing ones, as well as a number of other uses depending on the project. Following project completion, the bureau conducts evaluations of safety projects to ensure goals are being met.

A project evaluation conducted in 2024 on the NE 102nd Avenue Safety Project, which was first piloted in 2019, showed an overall improvement in safety measures. There have been fewer crashes, vehicle speeds on NE 102nd Avenue are lower, and the street better meets guidelines for pedestrians and people biking. There were no significant changes to travel times for TriMet buses or other vehicles, nor were there significant changes to volumes or speeds on nearby neighborhood streets.

Across the city, additional safety improvements are also making a difference:

Reduce speed limits: Portland is aggressively reducing speed limits. In 2024, PBOT and the Oregon Department of Transportation reduced speed limits on 23 miles of streets in Portland. Safe travel speeds lower the risk of crashes; when crashes do occur, safe speeds make it less likely that people are killed or seriously injured. The World Health Organization recommends that urban speed limits should not exceed about 30 mph and PBOT’s speed limit setting directive states that “most posted speed limits in Portland should be 20 to 25 miles per hour.”

New street lighting: In 2024, PBOT continued installing new street lighting on several of our highest crash streets. Streetlights make it easier for people to avoid crashes and can reduce the occurrence of crashes at specific locations. Lighting and visibility are critical to creating safer streets.

Enforce safe driving: PBOT installed 11 new speed and intersection safety cameras along the highest-crash streets and intersections across the city. Speed safety cameras have shown an 88% reduction in top end speeding on the corridors where they are located.

Signal timing to slow vehicles: PBOT traffic signal engineers are finding ways to slow vehicle speeds through traffic signal timing on multiple high crash corridors. Signal timing technology can interrupt excessive speeding while also increasing the time for pedestrians to cross intersections. Traditionally, engineers use signal timing to move more cars. At PBOT, we are focused on how to move more people to where they need to go, safely.

Major infrastructure projects: In 2024, PBOT broke ground on multiple major projects along the High Crash Network including: the 82nd Avenue: Major Maintenance Project, SW Fourth Avenue Improvement Project, and a roadway reorganization on NE Halsey Street from 70th to 80th avenues as part of the 70s Neighborhood Greenway project. These projects enhance safety for people walking, biking, rolling, taking public transit, and driving.

Source: Portland Bureau of Transportation

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