PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 18, 2025
CONTACT: Jodie Medeiros, Executive Director, Walk SF, jodie@walksf.org, 415.596.1580
Senior killed in Outer Mission neighborhood marks 16th pedestrian death this year
Three-quarters of pedestrians killed this year have been seniors
San Francisco, Calif. – Walk SF learned from the San Francisco Police Department that an 80-year-old pedestrian was fatally hit by a driver yesterday, December 17, 2025 at the intersection of Mission Street and Naglee Avenue in the Outer Mission neighborhood. The driver fled the scene. No additional information is available at this time.
“We are heartbroken by this loss of life. We hold the victim and their loved ones close in our thoughts,” said Jodie Medeiros, 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.
2025 has been an especially deadly year for older pedestrians in San Francisco. Of the 16 pedestrian deaths so far, 12 have been seniors. More than half of pedestrian deaths this year were hit and runs.
“Every loss of life is a tragedy, and it’s not a coincidence that seniors – some of the most vulnerable in our communities – make up 75% of the pedestrian deaths this year,” said Erik Greenfrost, executive director for Senior & Disability Action. “As a city and as a community we have to do more to protect them, and to protect all pedestrians.”
Seniors are especially at risk if hit and injured in a traffic crash. For example, the average risk of severe injury or death for a 70‐year old pedestrian struck by a car traveling at 25 mph is similar to the risk for a 30‐year‐old pedestrian struck at 35 mph (learn more).
“We can measure our city’s safety by how safe our kids and seniors are,” said Medeiros. “By this measure, it’s clear San Francisco isn’t doing nearly enough when it comes to traffic safety. Everyone deserves to be safe crossing the street in our city.”
This is the second pedestrian fatality on Mission Street this year. A 50-year-old pedestrian was hit and killed by a driver at the intersection of Mission Street and Santa Rosa Avenue on July 23, 2025. The crash location is also one block from another fatal crash, where a driver hit and killed a cyclist at Naglee Ave and Alemany Boulevard on November 16, 2025.
Mission Street is designated as a dangerous street on the city’s 2022 “high-injury network” map: the 12% of streets where 68% of traffic crashes occur. The section of Mission Street where the crash occurred is 55-feet-wide, with four vehicle travel lanes. Wide streets are correlated with higher rates of speeding, and also mean pedestrians have farther to cross and a longer period of time at risk in the intersection.
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 11th 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 12th pedestrian death was a 78-year-old person hit on August 10 while crossing 6th Street at Howard Street. The 13th was 30-year-old Binod Budhathoki, who was fatally hit by a hit-and-run driver on Saturday, October 4, while crossing Cortland Avenue at Anderson Street. The 14th was 88-year-old Lau Sim Lui, who was fatally hit by a driver on Sunday, October 26, at the intersection of Ocean Avenue and Ashton Avenue. The 15th pedestrian death was 72-year-old Thomas Wong, who was hit by a driver on the morning of Tuesday, December 2, 2025 at the intersection of Mason Street and Broadway.
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.
About every 15 hours someone is taken to San Francisco General Hospital after being injured in a traffic crash. Around 500 people are severely injured in traffic crashes each year in San Francisco.
“We face more threats than ever as pedestrians,” said Medeiros. “Vehicles are bigger, heavier, and more powerful. Dangerous driving behaviors, especially speeding, are all too common these days. And many streets and intersections are not yet designed to keep drivers going at safe speeds and protect the most vulnerable, especially pedestrians.”
“It is heartbreaking that so many of our seniors have died in this way on San Francisco streets,” said Medeiros. “I’m grateful to Mayor Lurie for his speech on Monday saying that seniors, children, and everyone in our city needs to be safe getting around. It’s time for San Francisco to make this real – and it can.”
On Monday, Mayor Daniel Lurie issued a wide-ranging executive directive on traffic safety. The Street Safety Initiative:
- Establishes a first-ever Safe Streets Task Force within the Mayor’s Office, a key element of the most successful Vision Zero cities around the world.
- Directs agencies to complete many of the actions in the Street Safety Act. The Street Safety Act was unanimously supported by the Board of Supervisors in September.
- Brings 15 agencies together on traffic safety.
- Lays the groundwork to accelerate progress in ending severe and fatal traffic crashes by committing to the safe systems approach.
Mayor Lurie’s executive order comes at a time when a more aggressive response to traffic safety is urgently needed. Pedestrian deaths are at a 40-year high nationally. While people inside vehicles have never been safer, those outside of the vehicle are at greater risk than ever due to the size, weight, power, and prevalence of vehicles.
The Street Safety Act, which District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar authored earlier this year, renewed the City’s commitment to Vision Zero and included a suite of agencies by agencies like:
- 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
- Establish street design standards and maximum review periods for approval by the Fire Department so safety projects are implemented faster.
Mayor Lurie’s executive directive includes much of what is in the Act, and his directive brings more weight and accountability for agencies to deliver.
“Mayor Lurie and our Supervisors have laid out a path to accelerate the City’s progress in ending severe and fatal crashes,” said Medeiros. “Now it’s up to these leaders to ensure agencies deliver. We need safety to be the priority in how our streets are designed and enforced everywhere, every time.”
# # #
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.