On June 19, we observe Juneteenth, commemorating the day in 1865 when Major General Gordon Granger announced the end of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery in Texas. Each year, our department stops to reflect on the significance of Juneteenth through the #StopSignChallenge. This year’s challenge highlights the City’s commitment to Vision Zero and encourages you to pause and reflect on the lives of victims of traffic violence in Durham in 2025. As we pause to remember those lost, this article will also highlight the City’s ongoing efforts and progress toward creating safer streets for everyone in Durham.
What is Vision Zero:
Vision Zero is Durham’s Citywide commitment to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2045, with a short-term goal of a 50% reduction by 2035, as stated in the City Council Resolution #10341. Vision Zero is not a program that stands alone. Instead, it’s an embedded approach across all departments to create safer streets for all road users.
What is Traffic Violence:
Traffic violence refers to deaths and severe injuries that occur on roadways. It is described as a public health crisis resulting from unsafe street designs that encourage speeding, recklessness, and inattention.
Who is Impacted by Traffic Violence:
Traffic violence often impacts the most vulnerable communities, including lower-income individuals, older adults, differently abled people who may require the use of a mobility device (wheelchair, scooter), children, pedestrians, and cyclists. They are considered vulnerable because they are forced to navigate spaces designed only for cars, rather than multi-use paths with adequate lighting and buffers to reduce collisions with vehicles.
In 2025, 20 people died in traffic crashes in Durham, an average of two a month. These aren’t just drivers – 7 of these fatalities were pedestrians killed by a traffic crash. This data is available on the Vision Zero Data Dashboard.
Names of Victims from 2025:
The Stop Sign Challenge recognizes the first names and ages of the people listed below.
Agneris, 39
Carlos, 60
Michael, 65
Victor, 42
Travis, 29
Jose, 20
Oscar, 20
William, 17
Jermaine, 53
Claudia, 38
Hunter, 22
Mercedes, 22
Sandra, 66
Alfredo, 41
Paula, 79
Richard, 61
Jonathan, 20
Jamal, 36
Josh, 18
Brijette, 24
Ernest, 55
Iazias, 18
Alfredo, 32
As you read their names, pause, reflect, and remember these are the names of someone’s friend, child, partner, neighbor, or colleague.
Ongoing Efforts to Build Safer Streets:
The City of Durham remains committed to its goal of eliminating deaths and serious injuries due to traffic violence. In 2025, key achievements included delivering 12 miles of sidewalk, conducting 8 road safety audits at high-injury intersections, and identifying 7 quick-build safety projects. Additional successes include Proven Safety Countermeasures that are known to reduce crashes:
- installing 551 new curb ramps, which can reduce total crashes by 37%
- installing 103 high-visibility crosswalks, which can reduce pedestrian crashes by 40%
- installing 17 rectangular rapid flashing beacons, which can reduce pedestrian crashes by 47%
- installing 15 new traffic signals, which can reduce angle crashes by 67%
- implementing 6 bikeway improvements, reducing total crashes by 30-49%
- implementing 3 speed limit reductions in corridors, which can reduce traffic fatalities by 26%
All data is from the 2025 Vision Zero Annual Report. You can view the data on page 7 of the document and reference more information in the appendix on page 16.
Comparing Data from 2024:
In 2025, there were 30% fewer fatal crashes, yet a 10% increase in serious injury crashes. Overall, there was a 7% reduction in injury crashes.
The severity of an injury is categorized by the responding police officer and by how the injury’s effects can prevent the victim from performing their normal activities.
This data is from the 2025 Vision Zero Annual Report. You can view the data on page 4.
2026 Plans:
Vision Zero will continue working to make streets safer in Durham by developing multimodal service standards for traffic-impact analysis. The team plans to implement 10 road safety audits at high-injury intersections and seven Quick Build projects on intersections and streets identified by the High Injury Network Map.
Every year, we acknowledge Juneteenth as more than a celebration. We use the holiday to empower, educate, and engage the community by talking through our history. Use the Stop Sign Challenge to help you celebrate, educate, and advocate for continued fairness by sharing history and our chance to improve our spaces. Pause and reflect on the lives lost due to traffic violence, and continue to do your part to let others know our roadways are shared spaces. We look forward to our progress to ensure no one dies on roadways in Durham due to traffic violence.