PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 8, 2025
CONTACT: Marta Lindsey, Communications Director, Walk SF, marta@walksf.org, 617.833.7654
Pedestrian killed in hit-and-run in Bernal Heights marks the 13th pedestrian death this year
San Francisco, Calif. – Walk SF learned from the San Francisco Police Department that a pedestrian was fatally hit by a driver on Saturday, October 4, while crossing Cortland Avenue at Anderson Street. The driver fled the scene. A GoFundMe posted by the California chapter of the Non-Resident Nepali Association identified the victim as 30-year-old Binod Budhathoki. No additional information is available at this time.”
“We are heartbroken to learn of this life cut short. We hold the victim and their loved ones in our thoughts,” said Marta Lindsey, communications 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.
“We are seeing a disturbing number of hit-and-runs in recent years, which leave the victim’s family members with even more pain and no closure,” said Lindsey.
This is the 13th pedestrian death in San Francisco so far this year.
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. The twelfth pedestrian death was a 78-year-old person hit on August 10 while crossing 6th Street at Howard Street.
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. Around 500 people are severely injured in traffic crashes each year in San Francisco.
“It shouldn’t be life-or-death to cross the street in our city,” said Lindsey. “Pedestrians face more threats than ever, with vehicles bigger, heavier, and more powerful and more reckless driving than ever. It’s a deadly combination. We need streets that are designed and enforced to protect us.”
Speeding is the #1 cause of severe and fatal crashes in San Francisco. While the City’s new speed camera program is dramatically changing driver behavior around cameras, it’s also showing how prevalent dangerous speeding is. Half of speed camera citations issued in August were for drivers going 16-20MPH or more over the speed limit (read more).
The Board of Supervisors unanimously passed the Street Safety Act on September 16 (read more). The Street Safety Act recommits our city to ending severe and fatal crashes, gets agencies to collaborate and work more efficiently, and focuses on bringing the most effective solutions to scale.
Walk SF is calling on Mayor Daniel Lurie and agency leaders to work quickly to adopt detailed plans and directives with deadlines, plus regular interagency meetings, to implement what’s in the Street Safety Act.
“Traffic safety affects all of us, every single day, and needs to be tackled with every tool possible,” said Lindsey. “The new Street Safety Act is a blueprint for doing this, but it’s only words on paper unless our leaders deliver on it. These senseless tragedies must end.”
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Walk San Francisco (‘Walk SF’) advocates on behalf of all pedestrians in San Francisco. Since its founding in 1998, Walk SF has successfully pushed for solutions to design and enforce streets where people of all ages and abilities are safe walking. 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.