Pedestrian Safety

Note: GJEL Accident Attorneys regularly sponsors coverage on Streetsblog San Francisco and Streetsblog California. Unless noted in the story, GJEL Accident Attorneys is not consulted for the content or editorial direction of the sponsored content.

Walk San Francisco announced the appointment of its new Executive Director, Jodie Medeiros, last month. Readers will recall that last April Nicole Ferrara left the helm to take over Vision Zero plans at Oakland's newly formed Department of Transportation. The organization's advocacy efforts were temporarily left in the capable hands of Cathy DeLuca, Policy and Program Director.

This has been, once again, a bad year for road safety in San Francisco. In the past few weeks, we've seen a death and a serious injury in the Richmond District, a death on Sloat at 36th, and the death of a man at the Fell crossing at Baker. Advocates, frustrated with the carnage and lack of progress in pursing the city's Vision Zero goals, called on the mayor to intervene and stop delays on safety projects caused by inter-agency conflicts.

For many years, cities have refused to consider bicycle and pedestrian improvements on or across state-owned highways—which frequently run right through cities. The stated reason is that Caltrans controls those streets and won't allow changes that might slow or impede car traffic.

One week ago, on Oct. 31, San Francisco saw its 16th victim of road violence this year--47-year-old James Samiere was struck and killed while crossing the intersection in the image above, at Sloat Boulevard and 36th.

An SFMTA crew installed official safe hit posts today to make the intersection at Baker and Fell safer. The posts compliment painted bulbouts that went in over the weekend. This is the location where 90-year-old David Grinberg was killed last month while crossing the street.

Yesterday afternoon, journalists and advocates were given a first look at Fire Engine 13, assigned to the station on the corner of Washington and Sansome in San Francisco's Financial District. "This fire engine is narrower, not as long, and has a better turning radius," said San Francisco Fire Department Chief Joanne Hayes-White. "It's a beautiful piece of equipment."

Some 45 yellow-shirted safety advocates turned out last night to demand a protected bike lane on the Embarcadero.

The North Bay fires are a painful reminder of the disastrous impact of climate change. Unfortunately, the federal government’s most recent responses to the climate crisis include eliminating the Obama Administration’s attempt to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, known as the Clean Power Program. Now more than ever, the Bay Area has to lead the way in providing solutions that prioritize the needs of communities of color. We need to set a new path away from a carbon-based economy rooted in extraction and exploitation to a just transition economy anchored in sustainability.