EL CAJON, Calif. (KGTV) — A violent crash Sunday along Jamacha Road in El Cajon has renewed concerns from residents who say speeding and safety have been ongoing problems in the area for years. Data from a University of California, Berkeley transportation database appears to back up those concerns.
El Cajon police say one of the drivers involved in Sunday's crash was heading north on Jamacha Road near Gustavo Street when the vehicle drifted into southbound traffic. Three people were taken to the hospital, but none suffered life-threatening injuries. The crash left one car ripped in half.
"It's been extremely dangerous. I don't know why we continue to have these issues here," said Laura Debus, who lives just off Jamacha Road.
She said the road's reputation for danger spans years.
"it just seems to be a trend lately. I don't know. And I say lately, maybe the last 10 years, I don't know. It just seems to continue to escalate," Debus said.
ABC 10News searched SafeTREC/UC Berkeley's Transportation Injury Mapping System, known as TIMS, for crashes along Jamacha Road between East Washington Avenue and Vista Del Valle Boulevard.
In a 10-year span — from August 2015 to 2025 — the system reports 52 crashes. That's about one every 2.5 months.
That stretch includes a 2024 incident in which a driver crashed into a home. Speed was also a factor in that crash.
Debus said the danger on the road has claimed lives she knows personally.
"In fact, friend of my daughter's that she went to high school with was killed just right up, right up the street on the left-hand side of the road," Debus said.
A speed radar sign along the road flashes warnings for drivers to slow down, and Debus said new flashing signs were recently installed. But Debus said the traffic calming measures don't appear to be changing driver behavior.
"They just put up new flashing signs about two weeks ago, and here we are again," Debus said.
Neighbors say the message to slow down is clear — but they wonder when drivers will start to listen.
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