University of California San Francisco

Vision Zero SF Injury Prevention Research (VZIPR) Collaborative

Vision Zero SF Injury Prevention Research (VZIPR) Collaborative

San Francisco’s Vision Zero SF Injury Prevention Research (VZIPR) Collaborative is a coordinated effort between UCSF trauma surgeons and trauma program staff, emergency medicine physicians, and key staff from ZSFG and the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) Center for Data Sciences. VZIPR has been working since 2014 to develop and utilize comprehensive injury data for strategic research and analyses in support of Vision Zero SF– San Francisco’s policy and commitment to eliminating traffic deaths on city streets. 

Injury & Fatality Surveillance

VZIPR’s efforts led to the creation of a comprehensive Transportation-related Injury Surveillance System (TISS) linking hospital, police, and ambulance data for accurate and timely monitoring of traffic-related injuries and deaths. These data are utilized by the SFDPH to identify priority initiatives for traffic injury prevention, and to evaluate and monitor the impact of these initiatives. San Francisco was the first city in the country to use linked and mapped data to create the Vision Zero High Injury Network, which identifies the 13% of city streets (“high injury corridors”) where 75% of severe and fatal injuries are concentrated. Data-driven Vision Zero initiatives can help reduce severe injuries and save lives.

Emerging Mobility Services and Technologies

VZIPR recognized early the need for accurate monitoring of injuries associated with new modes of transportation such as e-scooters, e-bicycles, e-skateboards and hoverboards. The Emerging Mobility Injury Methodology describes our early approach to collecting and analyzing injury data associated with these devices. This approach informed the Midpoint Evaluation for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's (SFMTA) Powered Scooter Share Pilot and the comprehensive look at e-scooter associated collision and injury in San Francisco. VZIPR efforts to track injuries from powered scooters were covered by the New York Times in August 2018. Members of our collaborative were later instrumental in developing and lobbying for the implementation of new ICD-10 codes to support electric vehicle injury monitoring throughout the country.

Publications and Methodologies:

Media: 

VZIPR early efforts to implement data systems to better track injuries from emerging mobility devices were covered by the New York Times.

For more information:

Rebecca Plevin, MD
Associate Professor of Surgery
Trauma and Surgical Critical Care 
Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital
University of California San Francisco
[email protected]