PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 29, 2026
CONTACT: Marta Lindsey, Communications Director, Walk SF, marta@walksf.org, 617.833.7654

Senior pedestrian hit and killed yesterday in the Inner Richmond

Thirteenth pedestrian deaths in San Francisco already this year

San Francisco, Calif. – Walk SF learned from the San Francisco Police Department that an 80-year-old pedestrian was hit and killed while crossing the street yesterday afternoon by a tow truck driver in the Richmond District at Arguello Boulevard and Anza Street.

“We grieve for the victim and their loved ones,” said Marta Lindsey, communications director for Walk San Francisco. “Walking should not be life or death in San Francisco. These tragedies devastate families and communities.”

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. 

There have now been thirteen pedestrian deaths in San Francisco in 2026. The first pedestrian death in 2026 was a 76-year-old woman on February 3rd at Bayshore Boulevard & Silver Avenue in District 10. The second was a 47-year-old woman who was hit and killed at Bayshore Boulevard and Arleta Avenue on February 14th in District 10. The third was a two-year-old child who was hit and killed by a driver on February 27th at the intersection of 4th and Channel Streets in District 6. The fourth was a 42-year-old pedestrian who was fatally struck by a hit-and-run driver on March 5th at the intersection of Mission Street and Naglee Avenue in the Outer Mission neighborhood in District 11. The fifth was a 46-year-old pedestrian who was fatally struck on March 5th on the sidewalk near Broadway and Kearny in the North Beach neighborhood in District 3. The sixth was a 57-year-old pedestrian who was fatally struck by a MUNI bus on Geary Avenue between Kearny and Grant Streets. The seventh was 49-year-old Cuthberto Zamora, who was fatally struck on the sidewalk near the intersection of Jackson & Beckett Streets in the Chinatown neighborhood in District 3. The eighth pedestrian was fatally hit by a driver on May 25th on Mission Street near 16th Street in the Mission neighborhood in District 9. The ninth and tenth were on June 3rd, when 61-year-old Cheryl Coleman was hit and killed on 7th Street between Brannan and Townsend in the SOMA neighborhood (District 6) and 26-year-old Edson Garay was killed at Geneva Avenue and Paris Street in the Ingleside neighborhood (District 11). The eleventh pedestrian death was on June 12th at California Street between Hyde and Larkin in District 3. The twelfth pedestrian death, 57-year-old David Wesley Reinhart, was hit and killed by a driver on the morning of July 14th on 6th Street near Howard Street in the SOMA neighborhood.

According to the City’s traffic fatality tracker, 13 of the 19 people killed in all traffic crashes this year were pedestrians. The City’s traffic fatality tracker can be viewed here, note that information is not up-to-the-minute.

“Too many people are being hurt and killed simply getting around San Francisco,” said Lindsey.

“On the very same day of this tragedy, I was also contacted about a pedestrian who was hit at 4th and Fulton, and a pedestrian and a bicyclist were hit at Geary and Arguello. Both those locations are just a few blocks of where this man was killed. This gives you a sense of how frequent crashes are in one small area, much less the entire city.”

“While we don’t have details about what happened, what we do know is that the larger and heavier a vehicle is, and the faster a driver is going, the more likely a crash is to be deadly,” said Lindsey.

The location of the crash, Arguello Boulevard and Anza Street, is right next to Rossi Playground and Recreation Center. Arguello Boulevard connects Geary Boulevard (one block away) and Fulton Street (~2 blocks away). Geary and Fulton are designated high-injury streets due to high numbers of traffic crashes, plus have significant traffic volume and issues with speeding (which is why both streets were selected to have speed cameras).

“This crash happened next to a park and a stone’s throw from a middle school. My kid is one of hundreds of kids who walk right here every day,” said Lindsey. “As a parent and as a neighbor, it is heartbreaking and terrifying how vulnerable we are when we’re getting around on foot or bicycle.”

“San Francisco, including Mayor Lurie and the Board of Supervisors, has committed to do more to address traffic safety,” said Lindsey. “But we need action more than words.”

Walk San Francisco has been watchdogging progress on both the Street Safety Act passed unanimously by the Board of Supervisors in September 2025 and the Street Safety Initiative executive directive signed by Mayor Daniel Lurie on December 15, 2025.

Mayor Lurie’s Street Safety Initiative’s six month milestone on June 15 included these actions:

• Launching a public dashboard showing commitments and progress on key deliverables for safe streets.
• Developing a process to add a suite of safety improvements whenever a street is repaved or other street-level work happens so that streets are made safer in the most efficient ways.
• Establishing design standards and maximum review periods agreed to by the Fire Department and SFMTA so traffic calming projects are implemented faster. Completed though not public.
• Ensuring consistent vehicle driver training for city employees and the installation of telematics that further the goals of this Executive Directive.
• Releasing a Traffic Enforcement Strategy Report identifying top crash-causing behaviors and corresponding enforcement focus.
• Launching a process for residents and community groups to add murals, planters, and other infrastructure into daylit areas at intersections. ‘Community Corners’ launched.
• Developing a plan for promoting and enforcing safe e-device (e-scooter, e-bicycle, etc.) operations and parking.

“Lives are on the line, which is why our City leaders must deliver what they’ve promised,” said Lindsey.

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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.