San Bernardino's most dangerous intersections.

In 2022 the City of San Bernardino published a Local Roadway Safety Plan (opens in a new tab) built on every collision reported on its streets from 2016 through 2020: 8,855 of them, 311 of which killed someone or left someone severely injured. It covers City streets and the state highways that run through the City, such as Route 66 and Route 18. Crashes on the freeways, like I-215 and the 210, aren't counted.

No official list ranks San Bernardino's intersections by danger. The plan ranks locations by the number of reported collisions, from a scraped bumper to a fatal crash, and scores their severity separately, so this article gives the fatal and severe injury counts next to each total.

The roads with the most reported crashes

The plan ranks stretches of road by the number of reported collisions from 2016 to 2020. The top five:

• Baseline Street, Pepper Avenue to Tippecanoe Avenue: 745 collisions. 12 were fatal and 28 caused severe injuries.
• Waterman Avenue, 28th Street to Washington Avenue: 562 collisions, 6 fatal and 12 with severe injuries.
• Highland Avenue, Waterman Avenue to Palm Avenue: 456 collisions, 4 fatal and 16 with severe injuries.
• 9th Street, G Street to Del Rosa Drive: 345 collisions, 5 fatal and 11 with severe injuries.
• Sierra Way, 40th Street to 4th Street: 313 collisions, 1 fatal and 9 with severe injuries.

On the top three, broadside crashes led, followed by rear-end crashes. San Bernardino Police told the plan's authors that Baseline Street is a focus for pedestrian safety and drunk driving.

Fewer crashes don't always mean a safer road. Kendall Drive, between University Parkway and E Street, ranked seventh by count with 178 collisions, but 8 of them were fatal, more than on any other stretch on the list except Baseline. It's a 50 mph road and a main route to Cal State San Bernardino, and on the part of Kendall the plan studied in detail, unsafe speed was the most common cause of crashes.

The intersections with the most reported crashes

The plan counts a collision at an intersection when it happens within 250 feet of a signal, or 150 feet of an intersection without one. Its top five from 2016 to 2020:

• Waterman Avenue and 30th Street: 55 collisions. None was fatal; 1 caused a severe injury.
• Waterman Avenue and 40th Street: 44 collisions. None was fatal; 1 caused a severe injury.
• Highland Avenue and Arden Avenue: 39 collisions, none fatal or with severe injuries.
• E Street and Orange Show Road: 33 collisions, none fatal or with severe injuries.
• Foothill Boulevard and Meridian Avenue: 30 collisions, none fatal or with severe injuries.

The most severe crashes on the list were at corners with fewer of them. Rancho Avenue at Foothill Boulevard is tenth with 20 collisions, but two were fatal and two caused severe injuries, the highest severity score among the ten. Route 18 at Old Waterman Canyon Road had 24 collisions, two of them with severe injuries.

Waterman Avenue holds the top two. The plan's numbers there come from before the 210 interchange work at Waterman (opens in a new tab), finished in fall 2025 to ease congestion, which restriped Waterman at 30th Street for two northbound left-turn lanes (opens in a new tab).

How crashes happen in San Bernardino

The plan also looked at who is injured and why. A few of its findings matter to anyone who drives, walks or rides here:

• People walking were in about 6% of collisions but about a third of those that killed or severely injured someone. Motorcyclists were in 4% of collisions and 18% of those that killed or severely injured someone.
• Night is more dangerous. 55% of all collisions happened in daylight, but 59% of those that killed or severely injured someone happened at night.
• Speed and turns. Improper turning (26%) and unsafe speed (23%) were the most common causes, and unsafe speed caused 63% of rear-end collisions.
• Distraction is undercounted. Only 5% of the collision records include any information on driver inattention, so the data can't show how often distraction played a part.

State figures compare San Bernardino with similar cities. In 2023, 1,475 people were killed or injured (opens in a new tab) in crashes on San Bernardino's streets, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety. Among 62 California cities of 100,001 to 250,000 people, San Bernardino ranked 3rd for people killed or injured in motorcycle crashes and 7th for hit-and-run crashes that killed or injured someone, where 1 is the worst.

What the City has funded or is studying

Several of these locations have money behind them. In 2024 the City won a $5.28 million federal Safe Streets and Roads for All grant (opens in a new tab) for five places its plan flagged: Highland Avenue at Eucalyptus Drive, 9th Street from Waterman Avenue to Del Rosa Drive, 30th Street from San Gabriel Street to Cedar Street, Meridian Avenue from Etiwanda Street to Rialto Avenue, and Kendall Drive from University Parkway to H Street. The plans include signals, high-visibility crosswalks, refuge islands, bike lanes and lower speed limits.

Caltrans also awarded the City $2,946,150 to build a raised median on E Street (opens in a new tab) between Fairway Drive and 10th Street, and in 2025 the City started a safety study of Baseline Street (opens in a new tab) from Meridian Avenue to Tippecanoe Avenue. The full safety plan is on the City's Traffic page (opens in a new tab).

If you are injured at one of these intersections

Call 911 first, and get checked by a doctor even if you feel fine; some injuries take a day or two to show. Ask the officer which agency is taking the report and write down the report number. For a crash on a City street, San Bernardino Police (opens in a new tab) writes the report. It's ready 10 days after the crash at the Records Bureau, 710 North D Street, Monday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., in person with photo ID; some take a few weeks. For a crash on I-10, I-215 or the 210, the CHP's San Bernardino Area office (opens in a new tab) at 2211 Western Avenue handles it, and you can request the report online (opens in a new tab).

At a busy intersection, the evidence is often in the intersection itself. Photograph the signals, signs, lane markings and anything blocking the view, from where each driver was. If you think the design played a part, take those photos soon: the City may change the intersection before your claim is heard. Ask nearby businesses to save their camera footage, since many record over it within days.

When the road itself played a part

Most crashes are the fault of a driver, and most claims are made against that driver. But under California law, a city, a county or the state can also be held responsible (opens in a new tab), with exceptions set by statute, for a dangerous condition of its property, like a road or a signal. The condition must have caused the injury and created a foreseeable risk of it, and either a public employee created it or the agency knew about it in time to fix it. A crash at a busy intersection isn't proof of that by itself, so these claims rest on evidence about the road.

They also come with a short deadline. A claim against a public agency generally has to be presented within six months (opens in a new tab), and where it goes depends on who owns the road. Some City streets are also state highways, like parts of Route 18 and Route 66:

• City streets: the City of San Bernardino's liability claims (opens in a new tab) go to the City Clerk.
• County roads outside city limits: San Bernardino County's Risk Management Division (opens in a new tab).
• Freeways and state highways: Caltrans (opens in a new tab). Claims of $12,500 or less can go to its District 8 office in San Bernardino; larger claims go to the state's Government Claims Program.

Questions San Bernardino drivers ask

Which intersection in San Bernardino has the most crashes?

In the City's plan, Waterman Avenue at 30th Street, with 55 reported collisions from 2016 to 2020, followed by Waterman Avenue at 40th Street with 44. Rancho Avenue at Foothill Boulevard had fewer but the most severe. The plan is built on 2016 to 2020 data, so newer crashes may have changed the order.

Are freeway crashes part of these numbers?

No. The City's plan covers City streets and the state highways inside the City, like Route 66 and Route 18. Crashes on I-10, I-215 and the 210 are investigated by the CHP and aren't in its rankings.

If I was injured at a high-crash intersection, is the City or the State at fault?

Not by itself. Most claims still run against the driver who caused the crash. A claim against the City, or against Caltrans for a state highway, needs evidence that a dangerous condition of the road helped cause it, and it has a six-month deadline. A driver who ran a light or sped is still responsible even where the design is poor.

What if I was hit while walking?

People walking are a small share of San Bernardino's collisions but about a third of those that kill or severely injure someone. The same steps apply: call 911, get the report number, and photograph the crossing. Our page on pedestrian accidents explains how these claims work.

How long do I have to act?

California gives you two years to file an injury lawsuit (opens in a new tab) against a driver, but a claim against a public agency is due much sooner, generally within six months. If the road may have played a part, the earlier deadline is the one to watch.

Injured in a San Bernardino crash?

Knowing where crashes cluster won't undo yours, but it can point to what to ask about the road, the signals and the other driver. Valero Law Group handles injury claims across San Bernardino from its office on East Airport Drive and has won over $500 million for its clients, in English and Spanish. Seeing how a San Bernardino car accident claim works costs nothing.