PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 23, 2025
CONTACT: Marta Lindsey, Communications Director, Walk SF, 617.833.7654, marta@walksf.org
Pedestrian killed early this morning in the Excelsior neighborhood marks the 10th pedestrian death this year
City still lacks new policy and plan for traffic safety
San Francisco, Calif. – Walk SF learned from the San Francisco Police Department that a pedestrian was hit and killed around 12:23am today at the Mission Street and Santa Rosa Avenue intersection in the Excelsior District neighborhood. The driver fled the scene. No additional information is available at this time.
“This is a heartbreaking and horrific tragedy. We hold the victim and their loved ones in our thoughts today,” said Marta Lindsey, the 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.
Mission Street at Santa Rosa is on the city’s 2022 “high-injury network” map: the 12% of streets where 68% of traffic crashes occur. There have been six other traffic collisions resulting in injuries at the intersection of Mission and Santa Rosa since the beginning of 2015. Five of the six crashes involved pedestrians.
The section of Mission 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. Safety improvements along the corridor are currently under construction as part of the Mission / Geneva Safety Project, including new pedestrian bulb-outs at Mission Street and Santa Rosa Avenue.
This is the tenth pedestrian death in San Francisco so far this year. The first 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 a 77-year-old man who was hit and killed while crossing Market Street at 6th Street by a person riding an electric scooter.
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.
“We all deserve to be safe as we get around San Francisco,” said Lindsey. “San Francisco can and must do better. Streets can be designed and enforced to reduce the chances and severity of traffic crashes.”
Walk SF continues to call out the fact that San Francisco currently has no policy or plan for traffic safety. San Francisco’s Vision Zero commitment expired last year; Vision Zero is a data-driven, preventative, and interagency approach to end severe and fatal traffic crashes. San Francisco’s last interagency action plan for traffic safety is from 2021.
“How safe streets are – or aren’t – affects all of us every day in San Francisco,” said Lindsey. “We need all City leaders to make traffic safety a true priority.”
“Solutions exist to make streets safer,” said Lindsey. “San Francisco is using many of these solutions, but not at the scale needed given the threat we face.”
San Francisco launched its lifesaving speed camera program earlier this year, with citations set to start in early August 2025. The SFMTA is 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 is redesigning some of the most dangerous streets using affordable tools.
“Vehicles are bigger, heavier, and more powerful and dangerous driving behavior is worse than ever,” said Lindsey. “It’s a deadly combination and a serious public health threat. San Francisco must take on traffic safety more aggressively and comprehensively.”
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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.