A version of this post originally ran on the Traffic Violence Rapid Response website.
On the afternoon of December 27th at 5:08 p.m., a driver hit and severely injured a 65-year-old man while he was biking in the bike lane on Webster Street crossing 12th. We just learned he passed away from his injuries a couple of weeks ago on Sunday, January 11th, 2026.
We spoke to workers at Tay Ho who told us that witnesses rushed into the restaurant that day to borrow towels to help the cyclist until the ambulance arrived. Our hearts go out to our Hayward neighbor whose life was cut short as he was biking in Chinatown, and we extend our deepest sympathies to his family and friends.
We are saddened and outraged that yet another life has been taken due to traffic violence. 23 people were needlessly killed on the streets of Oakland in 2025, with untold numbers of others whose lives have been irreparably harmed because of serious injuries due to traffic violence.
These injuries and deaths from traffic violence are preventable.
Webster Street is a wide, multi-lane road that drivers use to speed to the highway. Drivers take turns at high speeds, cutting dangerously close to pedestrians and cyclists. A painted bike lane is not sufficient protection from cars traveling this fast. Intersections this wide allow drivers to turn faster than they can safely stop for people crossing the street, and intersections without state-mandated daylighting prevent drivers from seeing people in the crosswalk.
Half of Chinatown's streets are on the High Injury Network, including Webster Street. It is just a matter of time before another person is killed here unless we fix the design of the street. The Chinatown Complete Streets Plan includes calming traffic, widening sidewalks, reducing crosswalk lengths, reducing the number of travel lanes, and upgrading bicycle lanes north of 11th St.
Protected intersections like on 14th Street, diagonal parking like on 13th, and corner bulb-outs like on 12th would very likely have saved a life by slowing the turning driver to a safe speed. The State of California mandates that cities provide 20 feet of daylighting at intersections to enhance visibility, but 12th and Webster is missing the required daylighting, which creates a hazard for people crossing. The 12th and Webster intersection has cars parked in the daylighting zone, which blocks visibility.
Traffic safety is public safety. We call on elected leaders, the Oakland Police Department, the Oakland Fire Department, and the Oakland Department of Transportation (OakDOT) to treat the traffic safety crisis like the public safety crisis it is and to accelerate efforts to make Oakland’s streets safe for everyone, whether they are traveling by car, bike, on foot, or by mobility device.
- We call on OakDOT to prioritize street safety upgrades here and across the city. Immediately daylight the intersection here by painting the curb red, and later add protected intersections like 14th and reduce the width of the street like 13th to slow drivers to safe speeds.
- We call on the Oakland Police Department to treat these wrongful traffic deaths with the same gravity as other deaths.
- We call on the Oakland Fire Department to work collaboratively with OakDOT to reduce vehicle lanes and slow vehicle traffic across Oakland to save lives.
- We call on Oakland’s elected leadership to prioritize and fully fund street safety work and remove contracting, staffing, and other barriers to achieving safe streets for all residents.
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Traffic Violence Rapid Response is a group of caring Oaklanders organizing together to put an end to traffic violence throughout Oakland.
We believe traffic violence is a systemic, solvable problem. We believe we can build safe streets for everyone using internationally recognized street designs that prioritize the safety and comfort of all residents, especially our most vulnerable neighbors.
We respond to incidents of traffic violence by raising awareness about the incident, lifting the voices of the victims and the community, and demanding concrete action from those with the power to help.
