MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 26, 2022
CONTACT: Marta Lindsey, Communications Director, Walk SF, marta@walksf.org, 617-833-7654(c); Jodie Medeiros, Executive Director, Walk SF, jodie@walksf.org, 415-596-1580(c)
Vigil tonight at 3rd & Mission for all 10 pedestrians killed in 2022
On Thursday, May 23, from 6:00PM – 7:00PM, Walk San Francisco and San Francisco Bay Area Families for Safe Streets will hold a vigil at 3rd and Mission, the fatal crash site of mother-daughter Mary and Willa Henderson on Sunday. The vigil will remember and honor all 10 pedestrians who have been killed in 2022.
At the vigil, we will put temporary shoe prints on the sidewalk in memory. We will create a memorial for all the victims by writing messages on yellow hearts and hanging these for display. We will hold space for grief.
We will also call on the City to act in three ways:
- The City needs to Slow Our Streets. We need lower speed limits on 3rd Street and Mission Street and many more streets. And streets must be designed to discourage speeding, like narrower and fewer lanes. And traffic enforcement must focus limited resources on dangerous speeding.
- The City needs to keep us safe when crossing. There are proven tools that aren’t nearly as many places as they should be: left turn calming, no-turn-on-red, red light cameras, and pedestrian safety zones.
- The City must unequivocally embrace safety-first on our streets. We can’t compromise our safety any longer. The city must fundamentally prioritize safety above all else in the design of streets, especially in areas with significant foot traffic.
The ten pedestrians killed in traffic crashes in 2022 are:
- 33-year-old man killed at Geary & Laguna, 1/5
47-year-old man killed at France near Mission, 3/4
84-year-old woman, hit at Chestnut and Fillmore, died 3/17
Person killed at Persia & Mission, 3/22
Person killed on 500 block of Ellis, 5/11
77-year-old woman, killed at Steiner & Green, 5/11
Person killed at Bayshore & Blanken, 5/15
82-year-old woman, killed at Fulton & 37th, 5/21
72-year-old woman, killed at Mission & 3rd, 5/22
31-year-old woman, killed at Mission & 3rd, 5/22
Location of Vigil: Intersection of 3rd Street and Mission Street, northeast corner outside of the Grove restaurant
Date and Time: Thursday, May 26, 2022 from 6:00PM – 7:00PM
Confirmed to Attend:
- Jodie Medeiros, executive director of Walk San Francisco
- Supervisor Matt Dorsey, District 6
- Members of the San Francisco Bay Area Families for Safe Streets community. These are people who had loved ones hurt or killed in crashes, or survived a crash themselves.
We are working to reach any friends and family of victims to attend.
Background:
Citywide, around 30 people are killed and more than 500 severely injured each year on San Francisco streets. An average of three people are hit while walking every day in San Francisco.
Speed is the #1 cause of severe and fatal crashes in San Francisco. Pedestrians are especially at risk when drivers speed. A person struck by a driver traveling at 30 MPH is twice as likely to be killed as a person struck by a driver going 25 mph. The risk of death increases dramatically between 20MPH and 40MPH, and seniors face a significantly higher chance of death than younger adults.
People over 65 make up just 15% of San Francisco’s population but typically make up around 50% of pedestrian fatalities each year. In 2021, of the 13 pedestrians killed, 6 were seniors.
In 2014, 13 City agencies committed to Vision Zero: a comprehensive, data-based, preventative approach to ending severe and fatal crashes by 2024. The most recent Vision Zero Action Strategy and Walk San Francisco’s analysis of it can be viewed here.
In San Francisco, 75% of traffic crashes occur on just 13% of streets: what’s known as the ‘high-injury network.’ Both 3rd Street and Mission Streets are designated as ‘high-injury’ streets. View the City’s high-injury network map.
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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 made up of survivors and families whose loved ones have been killed or injured in traffic crashes. Learn more.