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Media Advisory: One week after crash that killed four-year-old in the crosswalk, groups to demand action by City tomorrow at 5PM



MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 21, 2023

CONTACT: Jodie Medeiros, Executive Director, Walk SF, jodie@walksf.org, 415.596.1580 (cell); Marta Lindsey, Communications Director, Walk SF, marta@walksf.org, 617.833.7654 (cell)

One week after crash that killed four-year-old in the crosswalk, groups to demand action by City tomorrow at 5PM

Temporary memorial for child, a fleet of strollers, and a message of ‘never again’

San Francisco, Calif. – On Tuesday, August 22 at 5:00PM, advocacy groups, neighbors, and parents will gather exactly one week after the tragic death of a four-year-old child at 4th and King Streets.

The four-year-old girl was riding in a stroller pushed by her parents when hit and killed by a driver on Tuesday, August 15 around 5:00PM in the crosswalk

Hundreds will gather to express grief and outrage at this child’s death, and call on City leaders to act quickly to make streets safer.

Walk SF has a detailed list of asks to the City: 1) immediately addressing the major safety issues at the 4th and King intersection; 2) redesigning all similar dangerous intersections near freeway entrances; and 3) publishing a plan within 60 days for how the SFMTA will follow through in its commitment to fix 900 designated ‘high-injury’ intersections that have yet to receive any safety improvements by the end of 2024.

WHEN & WHERE: Tuesday, August 22, 2023 5:00-6:15 PM

5:00-5:30: Build memorial and gather

5:30-6:00: Speakers and rally

6:00-6:15: Parents push strollers in crosswalk where child was killed

INVITED SPEAKERS:

  • Julie Nicholson, a traffic crash survivor and mother. Julie is also a member of San Francisco Bay Area Families for Safe Streets (see below). (confirmed)
  • Jodie Medeiros, executive director, Walk San Francisco (confirmed)
  • Lian Chang, staff, Walk San Francisco (confirmed)
  • Janelle Wong, executive director, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (confirmed)
  • Robin Pam, parent organizer with KidSafe SF (confirmed)
  • District Supervisor Matt Dorsey (District 6)
  • Jeffrey Tumlin, Director, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency

Also in attendance will be members of the San Francisco Bay Area Families for Safe Streets community, who have had loved ones hurt or killed in traffic crashes – or are crash survivors themselves.

VISUALS:

  • Large memorial made of stuffed animals
  • White strollers
  • Parents standing together with many strollers, walking across the crosswalk where the crash occurred
  • Hundreds of people with signs

This is the 11th pedestrian death in San Francisco so far in 2023. About 30 people are killed in traffic deaths each year in San Francisco; pedestrians are the largest number of those affected in crashes.

The location of the crash was at 4th and King Streets, where the driver was making a right turn from the center lane. Both 4th and King are on the City’s ‘high-injury network’: the 12% of streets where 68% of all severe and fatal traffic crashes occur.

The 4th and King intersection has very high numbers of pedestrians and many drivers rushing to get on the nearby freeway entrance. The T-Third light rail MUNI line and 45 MUNI Line runs along 4th Street, with the 8,30, and 45 MUNI lines a block or two away. Amtrak buses also stop nearby.

In total, 20 people were killed while walking in San Francisco in 2022. 39 people were killed in all traffic crashes in 2022, which is the deadliest year since the City adopted Vision Zero in 2014. Vision Zero is a comprehensive, data-based, preventative, and proven approach to ending severe and fatal crashes that has been successful worldwide.

Nationally, pedestrian deaths are at their highest numbers since 1981 and an average of 20 pedestrian deaths every day.

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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.