PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 6, 2024
CONTACT: Marta Lindsey, Communications Director, Walk SF, marta@walksf.org, 617.833.7654
Pedestrian killed in Portola neighborhood marks first pedestrian fatality of 2025
San Francisco, Calif. – Walk SF learned from the San Francisco Police Department that an 81-year-old male was fatally hit by a hit-and-run driver on the evening of Saturday, January 4, 2025 at the intersection of Silver Avenue and Colby Street. No additional information is available at this time.
“We are keeping the victim’s loved ones in our thoughts,” said Jodie Medeiros, executive director of Walk San Francisco. “No one should lose their life simply crossing the street.”
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.
“2024 was the worst year for pedestrian deaths in a decade, and it’s deeply upsetting that just four days into the new year the death toll for pedestrians has begun,” said Medeiros. “We need these senseless tragedies to stop – and for City leaders to do everything in their power to stop them,” continued Medeiros.
The intersection where the fatal crash occurred, Silver Avenue and Colby Street, is not on the City’s ‘high-injury network’: the 12% of streets where 68% of traffic crashes occur. But Silver Avenue is dangerous: Silver Avenue from Holyoke Street to Waterville Street and from Madrid Street to Alemany Boulevard are on the high-injury network and there have been three other fatal crashes along Silver Avenue since 2015.
24 people were killed while walking in San Francisco in 2024, the highest number in a decade. A total of 42 people were killed in traffic crashes in San Francisco in 2024, the highest number since 2007.
A decade ago, San Francisco adopted ‘Vision Zero’: a proactive approach to end severe and fatal traffic crashes that’s been proven successful in many places around the world. While San Francisco has made important progress since 2014, the pace and scale of change has been insufficient given the threat. Pedestrians are more at risk than ever as vehicles grow bigger, heavier, and more powerful, and drivers are more aggressive, distracted, and reckless.
“We don’t need another person to die for the City to make traffic safety a true priority,” said Medeiros. “Solutions exist. It’s a matter of implementing these solutions at scale, like other leading Vision Zero cities.”
Walk SF is calling on all City leaders including Mayor-Elect Daniel Lurie to commit to an aggressive, time-bound plan to accelerate Vision Zero progress, with the accountability and funding to get it done.
Walk San Francisco continues to demand progress in three crucial areas:
- Comprehensively addressing dangerous speeds. Speeding continues to be the #1 cause of severe and fatal traffic crashes in San Francisco. While it’s great news that the City will launch speed cameras on 33 streets in February 2025, many more actions are needed to bring down speeds everywhere. Walk SF supports: lowering speed limits on every possible street; reducing lanes on the widest, fastest streets to calm traffic; dramatically expanding ‘left turn calming’ to slow drivers; and a comprehensive plan to reduce speeds in a variety of ways including a proactive, streamlined approach for adding speed humps in many more locations.
- Bringing every safety solution to intersections so people are safe crossing. The City needs to fully harness the new state daylighting law, which prevents parking within 20 feet of the crosswalk so drivers have better visibility. Walk SF is asking the City to complete painting all high-injury crosswalks and crosswalks in school zones by the end of 2025 so drivers know where not to park. Pedestrian safety zones are also needed at all designated high-injury intersections to slow right-turning drivers.
- Complete existing Vision Zero commitments. This includes: finishing basic pedestrian safety improvements on the high-injury network (the 12% of streets where 68% of crashes occur); installing long-overdue red light cameras at the 8 approved locations; and completing an expanded active transportation network for biking and walking.
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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.