Tempe Technology to Help Reduce Car Accidents

Reporter: Imogen Siedare

Tempe, Ariz. - Tempe Vision Zero is bringing down the amount of serious and fatal crashes by implementing speed cameras and safety corridors throughout the city.

Since the safety corridor program began in 2023, data collected by the city of Tempe shows that the number of serious injuries and fatal crashes in these areas has gone down by 62.5%. 

Tempe Vision Zero is a nationwide program that was first started in Tempe in 2019. 

Its goal is to reduce the amount of serious and fatal crashes throughout the city, "because everyone deserves to get home safely,” according to the Tempe Vision Zero website.

“We understand that crashes may occur, but if we reduce the severity so that people survive at the end of the crash, that is a win for us,” Ellie Volosin, a Tempe Senior Civil Traffic Engineer who works with Tempe Vision Zero.

Every three months, Tempe Vision Zero focuses on a new corridor of traffic. They closely monitor the data from these roads, have motorcycle police stationed along the roads and have banners alerting drivers that the area is a safety corridor, according to Volosin. 

The community response to this program has been overwhelmingly positive, said Greg Bacon, the lieutenant for the Traffic Bureau of the Tempe Police Department.

“When we do presentations and we talk to the community members, a lot of them understand why we’re doing it, especially when we present the data,” Bacon said.  

The data collected from the speed cameras that were implemented just under a year ago shows a 11% decrease in all collisions from the first quarters of 2025 and 2026, Bacon said. 

One of the main concerns among community members was that the implementation of speed cameras at intersections would increase rear-end collisions, Bacon said. 

“That’s what people always think. Well, cars are going to slam on the brakes because of the lights, they don’t want to get into a collision, so then they get rear-ended. And actually, our numbers completely debunk that,” Bacon said. 

The data collected from these cameras has shown that the amount of rear-end collisions has gone down around 28% when comparing data from the first quarters of 2025 and 2026, Bacon said. 

“I think that’s worth noticing that people are driving, either with more consciousness or they’re more alert to what’s going on,” Bacon said. 

Tempe Vision Zero currently has no plans to add any more speeding cameras to intersections around Tempe, said Mary Kate Nacke, a public information officer for the city of Tempe. 

The safety corridors for April through June are: 48th Street (Southern Ave to Broadway Rd), McClintock Drive (Don Carlos to SR 202), and (Southern Avenue to Baseline Road), and Baseline Road (Calle Los Cerros to Priest Drive). 

Community members can attend monthly Zoom meetings to learn more about the program, the safety corridors, and express their concerns. These meeting dates are posted on the Vision Zero section of the Tempe city website. 

“People want to see their roads be safer and they like that Tempe is taking an effort in that,” Nacke said.