PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 2, 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
74-year-old pedestrian killed in South of Market neighborhood marks the fifth pedestrian death this year
All five pedestrian victims so far in 2025 this year were seniors
San Francisco, Calif. – Walk SF learned from the San Francisco Police Department that a 74-year-old female and her dog were fatally hit by a driver on May 1, 2025, at the intersection of 7th Street and Howard Street. No additional information is available at this time.
“Simply crossing the street should not be life-or-death,” said Jodie Medeiros, executive director of Walk San Francisco. “Our thoughts and condolences are with the victim’s loved ones.”
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.
“We must do more to protect our pedestrians, especially our elders and people with disabilities, who deserve to safely traverse our city,” said Erik Greenfrost, executive director of Senior and Disability Action. Senior and Disability Action mobilizes and educates seniors and people with disabilities to fight for individual rights and social justice.
The driver struck the pedestrian and her dog while making a left turn from 7th St to Howard St. According to the SFMTA, left turns account for 40% of pedestrian traffic fatalities citywide.
Both Howard Street and 7th Street are on the city’s 2022 “high-injury network” map: the 12% of streets where 68% of traffic crashes occur. Both streets are 50-foot-wide one-ways with three car travel lanes, one bike lane, and 25-mile-per-hour speed limits.
There have been three other fatalities at or near this intersection since 2016. A cyclist was killed at the same intersection in June 2016. A pedestrian was killed near the intersection of Natoma Street and 7th in April 2019, only a few hundred feet away from the crash site. A 30-year-old woman was killed on Howard Street between 5th and 6th Street while riding in the bike lane in March 2019.
The SFMTA completed safety improvements along 7th Street in 2021 including adding a bike lane on 7th St and is in the process of bringing safety improvements to Howard Street as part of the Folsom-Howard Streetscape Project. There is a newly installed speed camera on 7th Street between Harrison and Folsom Streets one block away.
This is the fifth pedestrian death in San Francisco so far this year, and all five 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.
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.
The City’s Vision Zero policy expired last year (121 days ago), and the last interagency action plan for Vision Zero is from 2021. Vision Zero is a data-driven, preventative, and interagency approach and commitment to end severe and fatal traffic crashes.
“Everyone deserves to be safe while crossing the street,” said Medeiros. “How many children, parents, siblings, and loved ones need to die before our city’s leaders prioritize unsafe streets? This is unacceptable.”
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.
“Mayor Lurie and the heads of key City agencies must take Vision Zero and make it a success story,” said Medeiros. “If not, people will continue paying the ultimate price for dangerous streets.”
# # #
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.