Local cities and youth councils expand their messaging and outreach about safer streets.

Some actions people might engage in on the street include scrolling on a phone or eating. These are among the many distracting tasks that can increase the risk of a crash.

Following a surge of collisions late last year, all five Salinas Valley cities sent out a joint announcement urging drivers to slow down and be alert. The City of Salinas shared a traffic safety video, the first of a series. “It needs to be an ongoing education,” Mayor Dennis Donohue says.

Seven pedestrians lost their lives last year to vehicle collisions in Salinas; the most recent occurred near downtown, where Shawn Allen, a 63-year-old man in a wheelchair, was struck while crossing the street.

In 2025, Salinas received two grants totaling nearly $200,000 from the California Office of Traffic Safety; one focuses on education and is run by nonprofit Ecology Action; the other grant supports enforcement, including DUI checkpoints.

Traffic safety has also sparked interest among youth leaders in Salinas and Greenfield. Youth Councils in both cities are working on education campaigns for drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists. In Salinas, they are preparing a series of videos targeting different age groups, and coloring books for young people. They plan to release a new social media video every couple of weeks.

The Greenfield Youth Council has so far shared two episodes on Instagram of its mini-series called .

Marisol Mederos, 17, chairs the Salinas Youth Council. She says the group hopes to broaden their reach: “We really want to collaborate with elementary schools in order for them to teach how to properly cross crosswalks.”