Walk SF Calls on City to Take Urgent Action Following San Francisco’s First Traffic Deaths of 2017

Yesterday was the day every family dreads—the day they learn that a loved one has lost their life.

Wednesday, January 10 marked the first—and possibly second—traffic fatality of 2017 in San Francisco. A woman, estimated to be in her 60s or 70s, was walking at the intersection of Union and Buchanan, when a person driving a truck struck her in the crosswalk. She died within hours from the trauma of injuries at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital’s Trauma Center. A second death is being investigated, as a man was found dead on the Muni underground trackway. Police are investigating whether the death was due to a crash with the train. Walk San Francisco extends our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the victims, whose lives will never be the same again.

These tragic deaths continue to elevate the urgency the City’s must bring to its commitment to Vision Zero, the goal to end all serious and fatal traffic collisions by 2024. On January 1, the Vision Zero Coalition called on the City to renew its resolve to reprioritize life-saving improvements on city streets. Alarmed by any lack of significant reductions in serious and fatal traffic collisions since the adoption of Vision Zero in 2014, the Coalition urged the City to commit to the following three actions in its upcoming Vision Zero Action Strategy:

• Identify 18 miles of high-injury corridors to improve safety for all road users in 2017. The City must ensure that all improvements are comprehensive and do not compromise on safety.
• Analyze the City’s impact to date. The City must dedicate more resources to evaluate the efficacy of past efforts; it can’t make progress if it’s not closely monitoring what’s working.
• Focus on proven strategies that work and implement more of them. The City must not waste time on efforts that haven’t been successful, or distractions from core strategies to prevent crashes.

With yesterday’s deaths, it is more urgent now than ever to turn the tide of preventable traffic violence on our streets. The City has the tools to take immediate action so 2017 is a safer year for people traveling on the streets of San Francisco.

Walk SF repeats and reiterates the Vision Zero Coalition’s call for a renewed commitment and urges the City to use its Two-Year Action Strategy as a road map to change course and make real progress on Vision Zero.

The lives of everyone who walks, bikes, takes transit and drives in San Francisco depends on it.