How the Inland Empire is fixing its deadly roads
By Izzaya Gonzalez
A study in 2025 from California State University San Bernardino, conducted by Armando Ceja-Lua, found that the Inland Empire had a higher fatality rate average than the state of California and surrounding counties.
The IE’s biggest outlier was its rate of deaths caused by alcohol-impaired driving: .549 for every 100 million Vehicle Miles Traveled. Compared to California’s State average of .390 deaths/VMT and Los Angeles County’s average of .236/VMT, driving in the IE is especially dangerous.
Contributing factors
The study discusses how the Inland Empire’s mix of rural and urban landscapes affect the driving behavior of its inhabitants. Urban areas, with their high populations, predictably cause more accidents. The drivers in these areas also tend to go through the rural roads interspersed in these towns with an urban driving style.
This means higher speeds in roads that are more open, curved, dark and far away from law enforcement. While under the influence and behind the wheel, the study found these road conditions can be fatal.
An event that created a similar effect throughout the country was the COVID-19 pandemic. There were fewer cars on the road in every kind of zone and a lack of law enforcement. Drivers who were used to the congestion of highways and urban streets slowing them down began to drive 10 to 15 mph faster than normal. While the rest of the world experienced lower accident rates, the United States had a 30.4% increase in fatality rates.
To put it simply, the IE suffers from a high population and not enough infrastructure to support it. This has prompted cities in the region to ask for grants from the state to invest in strategies to address these findings.
Solutions
San Bernardino is the city with the highest fatality rate in this area and the second deadliest in the nation. One of this city's hot spots, according to the CSUSB study, was responsible for 829 deaths.
Traffic Engineer Associate for the City of San Bernardino, Brian Castillo, said that cities across this county were aware of how dangerous the roads were. The state had conducted a citywide inventory in 2016 for the traffic department but did not follow up with any grants until 2024. There were two. One for an upgrade from 8-inch traffic light bulbs to 12-inch bulbs, and the other for new dynamic traffic cameras that improve how the dilemma zone is handled.
The dilemma zone is the area before an intersection where it is not clear if the driver should keep going when the traffic light turns yellow.
Previously, scanners would keep lights green for cars nearing this dilemma zone at a speed high enough where they would not be able to slow down to a stop. With the new "Red Protect” system, scanners will make every other light in the intersection red as well to allow the driver in the dilemma zone to pass without endangering nearby drivers and pedestrians.
Early findings in an October 2025 case study show that there were 50% fewer crashes at the 49 intersections that had the new scanners. This also led to 30% fewer accidents city-wide. These project intersections also had a reduced fatality rate by 82%.
Heat Maps
Similar systems have been utilized in surrounding cities like Rancho Cucamonga, Chino and Fontana. Yet, there are still a lot of improvements to be made.
Heat map showing concentration of fatalities in Rancho Cucamonga
Heat map of Ontario and Chino
Heat Map of Fontana and surrounding areas
Heat maps from the CSUSB study show that these cities still have many hot spots all over the city, even with these changes.
Shortcomings
Some parts of the traffic system that could be more difficult to manage are highways. These roads will always have more accidents, even without the risk of pedestrians, because there are more cars driving at a higher speed. Other than designing roads with speed traps or adding even more lanes, it is difficult to get drivers to slow down.
Any changes to these freeways would also require more bureaucracy to approve any changes, which may take take too long or not come to fruition at all. Projects like the California High-Speed Rail are a step in the right direction, but it has gone beyond budgets and deadlines. This will make it hard to convince people that the next step would be to get everyone off the road.
The Future
The ultimate goal, according to all of those involved in traffic safety that were interviewed, is a future where buses and an expanded metro system are the main form of transportation in California.
Cities like Paris are frequently cited as the benchmark of what a city could be. There is an emphasis on walking and public transportation that does not restrict the amenities of the city to a downtown you must drive to. They admit that for California this is 30 to 50 years away, but new investments to the state's infrastructure and the good that comes along with not driving, like less risk of one's life, are bringing this reality closer.
California’s Senate Bill 79 that passed in 2025 has marked a big step towards the state's push for a higher use of public transportation. The bill allows big cities, like Los Angeles, to build apartments within half a mile of all types of public transit systems stations.
Conclusions
The wider public has gotten used to the frequent tragedies that come along with driving. Because accidents are so common, they or someone they know have been in an accident. This is changing in the IE.
SAFE IE, Streets are for Everyone Inland Empire, is a grassroots organization that helps victims of DUI accidents and hosts events to educate the community about this issue. They have fought for legislative changes and infrastructure changes in hopes to lower the number of traffic fatalities to zero.
If this can become a larger movement at the national level, then there can be changes to the way people move. Hopefully, this will decrease the amount of loss.
Until then, areas like the Inland Empire can serve as a microcosm of what can help the country's car crash crisis. Advancements in technology and the will to invest in them will determine if these areas susceptible to an extreme amount of accidents can become safer.