PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 26, 2025

CONTACT: Fiona Yim, Communications & Marketing Manager, Walk San Francisco, 415.599.3068 (cell), fiona@walksf.org

Crash victims and loved ones will meet with Mayor Lurie today

Families for Safe Streets members ask Mayor Lurie to recommit to Vision Zero by July 30

WHEN: Thursday, June 26, 2025, 5:45-6:00 PM

WHERE: On the front steps of San Francisco City Hall, 1 Dr Carlton B Goodlett Pl, San Francisco, CA 94102

WHAT: San Francisco Bay Area Families for Safe Streets, a group of people who have been directly affected by traffic crashes, will hold a press conference outside City Hall after meeting with Mayor Daniel Lurie. 

The group is asking Mayor Lurie for a new Vision Zero policy by July 30 and a new interagency traffic safety plan codified by September 30 with clear, time-bound commitments from key agencies.

AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS:

• Jenny Yu, co-founder and member of San Francisco Bay Area Families for Safe Streets (FSS). Jenny’s mother Judy was hit and severely injured by a speeding driver while crossing Park Presidio Boulevard on February 22, 2011. Judy suffered a ruptured spleen, collapsed lung, multiple fractures, and a severe traumatic brain injury. Judy lives today with significant cognitive impairment, PTSD, and suicidal tendencies.
• Richard Zieman, FSS member. Richard’s son, Andrew Zieman, was a beloved paraeducator at Sherman Elementary School. On November 10, 2021, Andrew was on his way to work when he was hit and killed by a speeding driver on Franklin Street in the school zone. 
• Maureen Loftus, FSS member. Maureen was a friend of and on the soccer team of Madlen Koteva, a 14-year-old girl who was hit and killed crossing the street at Lake Merced and John Muir Drive on March 25, 2019.
• Margaret McCarthy, interim executive director of Walk San Francisco. 

VISUALS:

• More than a dozen members of San Francisco Bay Area Families for Safe Streets in yellow scarves on the steps of City Hall with a sign indicating 176 days since the City’s Vision Zero policy expired.

BACKGROUND

Vision Zero is a data-driven, preventative approach and commitment to end severe and fatal traffic crashes. San Francisco adopted a Vision Zero policy in 2014. 

San Francisco’s Vision Zero policy expired last year, and the last interagency action plan for Vision Zero is from 2021. A total of 42 people were killed in traffic crashes in San Francisco in 2024, the highest number in a decade. 

While the City has made important progress since 2014 in redesigning streets to improve safety in support of Vision Zero, severe and fatal crash numbers have yet to go down. Around 40 people are killed and more than 500 seriously injured in traffic crashes each year in San Francisco. 

The past decade has also brought additional threats: dramatically increased traffic from delivery trucks and rideshare services; larger, heavier, and more powerful vehicles; and a rise in dangerous and aggressive driving behaviors.

Families for Safe Streets is asking Mayor Lurie to adopt a new Vision Zero policy by July 30.

The group is also asking Mayor Lurie to codify a new interagency Vision Zero plan by September 30, with clear, time-bound commitments from SFMTA, Department of Public Works, Department of Public Health, SF Police Department, and SF Fire Department.

SOCIAL MEDIA

#VisionZeroSF @bayareafss

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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.