PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 11, 2025
CONTACT: Margaret McCarthy, Interim Executive Director, Walk SF, margaret@walksf.org
Pedestrian killed at 6th and Howard Streets marks the 12th pedestrian death this year
This is the third senior pedestrian fatality in the SoMa neighborhood this year
San Francisco, Calif. – Walk SF learned from the San Francisco Police Department that a 78-year-old pedestrian was fatally hit by a driver yesterday, August 10, while crossing 6th Street at Howard Street. No additional information is available at this time.
“We are heartbroken to learn of this senseless tragedy. Our community is keeping the victim and their loved ones in our thoughts,” said Margaret McCarthy, the interim executive director for Walk San Francisco.
Walk San Francisco (Walk SF) and San Francisco Bay Area Families for Safe Streets (Families for Safe Streets) are here to support the friends and loved ones of the victim however possible. Resources are available at walksf.org/fss.
This is the twelfth pedestrian death in San Francisco so far this year, and three-quarters of pedestrian victims this year have been seniors.
“Older adults are among our most vulnerable pedestrians,” said McCarthy. “It’s clear San Francisco isn’t doing nearly enough to protect our senior community when it comes to traffic safety.”
This is the third senior pedestrian fatality in the South of Market neighborhood in 2025. 74-year-old Annabella “Bella” Gabriel Baquera was fatally hit by a driver just one block away at the intersection of 7th Street and Howard Street on May 1, 2025. 77-year-old Peter Rudolph was fatally hit two blocks away at the intersection of Market Street and 6th Street by a person riding an electric scooter on July 18, 2025.
6th and Howard are both on the city’s 2022 “high-injury network” map: the 12% of streets where 68% of traffic crashes occur. The section of 6th Street where the crash occurred is quite wide, with four vehicle travel lanes – a street design that drivers often feel comfortable speeding on and is a long distance for pedestrians to cross. The SFMTA is in the process of bringing safety improvements to 6th Street as part of the 6th Street Pedestrian Safety Project.
24 people were killed while walking in San Francisco in 2024, the highest number since 2007. A total of 42 people were killed in traffic crashes in San Francisco in 2024, the highest number in a decade.
The first pedestrian death in San Francisco in 2025 was 81-year-old Charles Bollinger, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver on January 4, 2025 at the intersection of Silver Avenue and Colby Street. The second was a 77-year-old woman who was hit by a driver on January 21, 2025 at the intersection of Carter Street and Geneva Avenue and passed on January 28, 2025. The third was a 77-year-old woman who was hit by a driver on March 14, 2025 at the intersection of Geary Boulevard and 39th Avenue and passed on March 27, 2025. The fourth was 86-year-old Mary Naito, who was struck by a hit-and-run driver on April 21, 2025, at the intersection of Fillmore Street and McAllister Street succumbed to her injuries on April 25, 2025. The fifth was 74-year-old Annabella “Bella” Gabriel Baquera, who was fatally hit by a driver on May 1, 2025, at the intersection of 7th Street and Howard Street. The sixth was a 47-year-old pedestrian who was fatally struck by a hit-and-run driver on May 12, 2025 at the intersection of Bayshore Boulevard and Jerrold Avenue. The seventh was a pedestrian who was fatally hit by a driver on May 27, 2025 at the intersection of 10th Street and Folsom Street. The eighth was a 67-year-old pedestrian who was fatally hit by a driver on June 2, 2025, at the intersection of Geary Boulevard and 2nd Avenue. The ninth was 77-year-old Peter Rudolph who was hit and killed while crossing Market Street at 6th Street by a person riding an electric scooter. The tenth was a pedestrian who was fatally hit by a driver at Mission Street and Santa Rosa Avenue on July 23, 2025. The eleventh was an 83-year-old pedestrian who was hit near the intersection of Ocean and Lee Avenues on August 2, 2025, and succumbed to their injuries.
San Francisco currently has no policy or plan for traffic safety. San Francisco’s Vision Zero commitment – a data-driven, preventative, and interagency approach to end severe and fatal traffic crashes – expired last year. San Francisco’s last interagency action plan for traffic safety is from 2021.
However, last month District Supervisor Myrna Melgar introduced the ‘Street Safety Act’ at the Board of Supervisors to bring action and accountability to traffic safety.
“The Street Safety Act will bring Vision Zero back into focus and take a more aggressive approach to traffic safety,” said McCarthy. “We need every Supervisor and Mayor Lurie to not only support the Street Safety Act, but to make it real and get safe streets solutions on the ground.”
The Street Safety Act includes:
- Planning for and completing a suite of ‘Quick Build’ safety treatments on forthcoming newly identified high-injury and high-risk streets
- Adding ‘Complete Streets’ infrastructure improvements (like pedestrian bulb-outs, turn calming, hardened daylighting, and pedestrian safety islands) anytime a high-injury or arterial street is repaved or updated in other ways
- Replacing the Residential Traffic Calming Program with a proactive approach for adding speed humps and cushions across neighborhoods with data-driven, pre-approved design standards so these can be installed quickly
- Planning for bringing ‘hardened daylighting’ to the high-injury network (once all intersections citywide are painted), plus establishing a process for community groups or residents to enhance daylit corners
- Establishing a public dashboard updated quarterly with outcomes-based metrics to assess progress toward ending severe and fatal crashes, plus more regular updates of the high-injury network and crash data analysis
- Increasing and focusing SFPD traffic enforcement on the driving behavior most likely to result in a traffic crash, plus conducting monthly strategic enforcement operations on speeding to complement the locations and effectiveness of the speed camera program
- Prioritizing the use of automated enforcement including speed cameras and red light cameras, including pursuing more legal authority to expand the use of speed cameras
- Establishing faster review by the SFFD of street safety projects, plus streamlining approvals for specific street design and traffic calming tools on different street types to speed installation
The Street Safety Act will be heard at the Board of Supervisors’ Transportation and Land Use Committee on September 8, and if passed, voted on by the full Board of Supervisors on September 9.
“We need streets to be designed and enforced to prevent the likelihood and severity of crashes,” said McCarthy. “The City is already using many of the solutions needed and seeing results. But it’s about applying solutions at the scale and pace needed given the threat on our streets.”
San Francisco launched its lifesaving speed camera program earlier this year, and citations started on August 5. The SFMTA is now painting ‘daylighting’ at all intersections to ensure visibility for all road users by the end of 2026 in light of a new state safety law. The SFMTA’s Vision Zero Quick Build program has been redesigning some of the most dangerous streets using affordable tools, and bringing pedestrian safety improvements to high-injury intersections.
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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.