PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 13, 2025
CONTACT: Jodie Medeiros, Executive Director, Walk SF, jodie@walksf.org, 415.596.1580; Marta Lindsey, Communications Director, Walk SF, marta@walksf.org, 617.833.7654
Pedestrian killed at Bayshore Boulevard and Jerrold Avenue marks the sixth pedestrian death this year
City’s Vision Zero policy remains expired; protest on steps of City Hall on Monday, May 19
San Francisco, Calif. – Walk SF learned from the San Francisco Police Department that a 47-year-old pedestrian was fatally struck by a hit-and-run driver on the morning of May 12, 2025 at the intersection of Bayshore Boulevard and Jerrold Avenue. No additional information is available at this time.
“We are heartbroken and angry for another life lost on our streets. We are sending our deepest condolences to the victim’s loved ones,” said Jodie Medeiros, executive director of Walk San Francisco. “Everyone deserves to be safe while walking in our city.”
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.
The intersection where the crash occurred is a known dangerous intersection. 53-year-old Michael Kingsley was killed in a hit-and-run crash at the same intersection on July 19, 2020. Bayshore Boulevard is on the city’s 2022 “high-injury network” map: the 12% of streets where 68% of traffic crashes occur.
The intersection where the crash occurred is sandwiched between on-and-off ramps linking local streets to U.S. Route 101. It is also where Bayshore Boulevard transitions into Potero Avenue, creating a complex network of freeway ramps and bridges.
“People who live, work, and walk near highways face even greater safety risks when getting around,” said Medeiros. “Too often, drivers act like they’re on the freeway when in reality they are on neighborhood streets. Every possible safety improvement is needed in these areas to protect pedestrians.”
The SFMTA is in the process of designing safety improvements in the area where the crash occurred as part of the Cesar Chavez/Potrero Ave/Bayshore Blvd Intersection Improvements project. These improvements will include: raised crosswalks to slow and encourage drivers to yield to pedestrians; improving bulb-outs, which makes drivers take right turns more slowly and shortens crossing distances for pedestrians; and a Rapid Rectangular Flashing Beacon to alert drivers to pedestrians in the crosswalk. There is no public information as to when these safety improvements will be completed.
This is the sixth pedestrian death in San Francisco so far this year. Five of the six victims were seniors. The first was an 81-year-old man 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 an 86-year-old woman 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 a 74-year-old female who was fatally hit by a driver on May 1, 2025, at the intersection of 7th Street and 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.
“It’s been 133 days since the City’s Vision Zero policy expired,” said Medeiros. “It is painful, angering, and unconscionable that the City hasn’t recommitted to Vision Zero and has no current plan on traffic safety. It’s more than time for our City to act urgently to redesign and enforce streets to keep us safe.”
Vision Zero is a data-driven, preventative, and interagency approach and commitment to end severe and fatal traffic crashes. San Francisco’s Vision Zero policy expired last year (133 days ago), and the last interagency action plan for Vision Zero is from 2021.
Walk SF is asking City leaders to act quickly to adopt a new Vision Zero policy and aggressive action plan with the funding, accountability, and focus needed to succeed.
“City leaders may want to ignore something that some view as a failure,” said Medeiros. “But a lack of progress on Vision Zero is a collective leadership failure, not a failure of Vision Zero.”
Walk SF, Families for Safe Streets, and organizations in the Vision Zero Coalition are going to City Hall on Monday, May 19 at 12:30PM to protest on the steps of City Hall and hand-deliver a letter to Mayor Lurie demanding the City adopt a new Vision Zero policy by July 30.
At the protest on the steps of City Hall, six pairs of shoes, painted white, will be placed to remember the six pedestrians who have died this year in traffic crashes.
At 1:30PM, Vision Zero will be discussed at the Land Use and Transportation Committee of the Board of Supervisors. The SFMTA, the SFPD, the SF Department of Public Health, and the Department of Public Works will all present and respond to questions from Supervisors. This hearing was called by District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar.
“Lives are on the line. We need Mayor Lurie and the heads of key City agencies to lead on traffic safety,” said Medeiros. “Vision Zero can be a success story in San Francisco.”
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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.