PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 22, 2024
CONTACT: Jodie Medeiros, Executive Director, Walk SF, jodie@walksf.org, 415.596.1580 (cell)
Pedestrian hit and killed in Cole Valley this morning marks 20th this year
Vigil today at 5:00PM at Stanyan & Parnassus
San Francisco, Calif. – Walk SF learned from the San Francisco Police Department that a 70-year-old man was hit and killed by the driver of a large construction vehicle on the morning of October 22, 2024 at the intersection of Stanyan and Parnassus Streets in the Cole Valley neighborhood.
“Our hearts are broken for the man who died this morning simply crossing the street,” said Jodie Medeiros, executive director of Walk San Francisco. “We are holding his loved ones in our thoughts, and know the entire neighborhood shares in our grief and concern.”
Walk San Francisco (Walk SF) and the San Francisco Bay Area Families for Safe Streets (Families for Safe Streets) community are here to support the friends and loved ones of the victims however possible.
Walk SF and Families for Safe Streets will hold a vigil at the crash location at Stanyan and Parnassus Streets today, Tuesday, October 22 at 5:00PM.
“Walking in our city should not be life-or-death,” said Medeiros. “We are calling on every city leader and every political candidate to prioritize safe streets today – and every day.”
A decade ago, San Francisco adopted ‘Vision Zero’: a proactive approach to end severe and fatal traffic crashes that’s been proven successful in many places around the world.
“While the City has made important progress in redesigning streets to improve safety, these tragedies are an extremely painful reminder of how far San Francisco still has to go,” said Medeiros. “We are asking City leaders for an aggressive plan to accelerate Vision Zero progress, with the accountability and funding to get it done.”
In a city where millions of people walk each year, an average of three people are hit each day as pedestrians. There have now been 20 traffic-related pedestrian deaths in San Francisco so far in 2024, surpassing the number of traffic-related pedestrian deaths in 2023. 18 people were killed while walking in San Francisco in 2023 out of 26 traffic deaths that year. Pedestrians generally accounted for 65% of all traffic-related fatalities and are 70% of traffic fatalities so far in 2024. Nationally, pedestrian deaths are at a 40-year historic high.
“Pedestrians face more threats than ever. This means much more must be done to protect us,” said Medeiros. San Francisco traffic is back to pre-pandemic levels, and with ever more heavy vehicles and large trucks, delivery vehicles, and ridehail cars than ever. Passenger vehicles are growing in size and weight, making the stakes of a crash even higher if one occurs. Dangerous and aggressive driving behaviors, especially speeding, are common. Many new cars can reach very high speeds in seconds.
Walk San Francisco continues urging progress in three crucial areas:
- Bringing down dangerous speeds. Speeding continues to be the #1 cause of severe and fatal traffic crashes in San Francisco. While it’s great news that the City will launch speed cameras on 33 streets in February 2025, many more actions are needed to bring down speeds everywhere. Walk SF supports: lowering speed limits on every possible street; reducing lanes on the widest, fastest streets to calm traffic; dramatically expanding ‘left turn calming’ to slow drivers; and a comprehensive plan to reduce speeds in a variety of ways including a proactive, streamlined approach for adding speed humps in many more locations.
- Bring every safety solution to intersections so people are safe crossing. The City needs to fully harness the new state daylighting law, which requires removing parking within 20 feet of the crosswalk so drivers have better visibility. Pedestrian safety zones to slow right-turning drivers are needed at all designated high-injury intersections.
- Complete existing Vision Zero commitments. This includes: finishing basic pedestrian safety improvements to the high-injury network (the 12% of streets where 68% of crashes occur); installing long-overdue red light cameras at the 8 approved locations; and completing an expanded active transportation network for biking and walking.
“How many people have to die or be injured for our city for safety to be the priority above all else on our streets?” asked Medeiros. “Solutions exist – and many of them are simple and cheap to add to streets – that make everyone safer, including drivers.”
The intersection of Stanyan and Parnussus is tucked into the neighborhood and one lane in each direction on both streets, but has very high levels of traffic given its connection between 17th Street and ultimately Market Street, with the Cole Valley, Haight-Ashbury, and Panhandle neighborhoods. Grattan Elementary School and Grattan Playground are within two blocks, as is the UCSF Parnassus Campus. Drivers often speed up and down the hills at this intersection, and race the traffic light.
The Pedestrian Deaths So Far in 2024
The first pedestrian death in 2024 was a 63-year-old man on January 31st at Fulton and Arguello. The second was a 31-year-old man, David Bridges Jr., who was hit and killed at 6th and Bryant Street on February 8, 2024 by a hit-and-run driver. The third was a 76-year-old man who was hit crossing Alemany Boulevard at Rousseau Street in the Excelsior neighborhood on February 25, 2024. The fourth was Michael Lukehart, a 41-year-old man who was fatally hit by a driver on March 2, 2024 at the intersection of Golden Gate Avenue and Hyde Street.
The fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth deaths were those of Diego Cardoso de Oliveira (40); Matilde Moncado Ramos Pinto (38); Joaquim Ramos Pinto de Oliveira (2); and Cauê Ramos Pinto de Oliveira (3 months), who were hit while waiting at a West Portal bus stop on March 16, 2024.
The ninth death was a man who was hit while crossing Ellis Street near Jones Street on May 23, 2024. The tenth was 41-year-old Miguel Angel Barrera-Cruz, who was killed by a driver at Mission Street and Cortland Avenue in the Mission District. The eleventh was 37-year-old Eric Marshall Quantrell, who was hit by a driver while walking at Van Ness Avenue and Broadway on June 15, 2024. The twelfth was a 43-year-old woman, Amanda Seifert, who was fatally hit at the intersection of Toland Street and Jerrold on June 17, 2024. The thirteenth was a 29-year-old man who was hit by a driver on Harrison Street between 5th and 6th Street, and succumbed to their injuries on July 5, 2024. The fourteenth was a man who was hit on Geneva Avenue near Cayuga on July 11, 2024. The fifteenth was a 61-year-old woman who was fatally hit while crossing at the intersection of Diamond Street and Bosworth Street on August 15, 2024. The sixteenth was a 70-year-old woman who a driver hit on September 12, 2024 at the intersection of Lombard and Laguna Streets, and later succumbed to her injuries. The seventeenth was a 52-year-old man who was hit and killed at the intersection of Lombard and Gough Streets on September 21, 2024. The eighteenth was a 94-year-old man who was hit by a driver on October 2, 2024 at the intersection of Geary Boulevard and 25th Avenue and later succumbed to his injuries. The nineteenth was a 94-year-old man who was hit by a driver on September 30, 2024 at the intersection of Anza Street and 6th Avenue and later succumbed to his injuries.
More Information
Speed is the #1 cause of severe and fatal traffic crashes in San Francisco. The faster a driver is going, the more likely a crash is to occur – and the more serious the consequences.
Pedestrians are highly vulnerable as the speed of a vehicle rises above 25 MPH if the pedestrian is hit. The most frequently cited study on speed and risk of fatality shows that at 25 MPH and under, a person has a less than 1 in 4 chance of being severely injured or killed if they are hit. But by 40 MPH, this flips, with 75% of pedestrians suffering life-threatening injuries or dying.
There have now been more traffic-related pedestrian deaths in San Francisco in 2024 than in 2023. Citywide, on average 30 people are killed and more than 500 severely injured each year on San Francisco streets. Older adults make up 50% of these fatalities annually.
On Sunday, November 17 from 5:00-6:00 PM, Walk SF and Families for Safe Streets will hold the 10th annual World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims on the steps of City Hall. Learn more at walksf.org/wdr.
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Walk San Francisco (‘Walk SF’) advocates for safe streets for everyone who walks, which is everyone. Since our founding in 1998, Walk SF has been leading the way to make San Francisco a pedestrian-first city where people of every age and ability can walk safely. Learn more.
San Francisco Bay Area Families for Safe Streets is a group of people who have been directly affected by traffic crashes, including crash survivors and people whose loved ones have been killed or injured in traffic crashes. Learn more.