We need to know more about fatal crashes in San Francisco
Greater transparency and accountability is key for reaching Vision Zero
Each year, around 15 pedestrians are hit and killed on San Francisco streets. Around 30 people are killed in all traffic crashes each year.
The aftermath of a fatal crash leaves many questions, including details on the circumstances of the crash and what type of street design changes could have prevented the crash.
Some information on fatal crashes is made public as part of the City’s Vision Zero Traffic Fatality protocol. Each month, the City releases a fatality report with the locations, dates, and causes of each traffic death. The SFMTA is also required to send out a “Rapid Response team” within a week of the crash to review the details of the crash and consider immediate street improvements.
But details and actions around fatal crashes are limited. Walk SF supports city agencies being more transparent about what causes each of these tragic crashes, and, more importantly, how to prevent future crashes. Greater transparency means greater accountability, which is key to reaching Vision Zero.
Supervisor Preston recently introduced legislation that would ask City departments to hold a public town hall after each traffic fatality to share information on the crash as well as the City’s response. (Supervisors Mar and Walton have signed on as co-sponsors of this legislation.)
We expect this legislation to be first heard by the Board of Supervisors’ Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee on Thursday, July 28th at 10:00AM. Get the agenda and details on how to tune in.
Whether through a public town hall meeting or another format, the need for greater transparency and accountability on traffic deaths is needed. At the heart of the Vision Zero approach is that traffic crashes are not inevitable – they are preventable. We need to be sure that when a horrific tragedy does occur somewhere in our city, everything possible is done to ensure it never happens there again.
Banner image by Walk SF
