Pedestrians

In the midst of a wave of media attention around the recent bicycle-pedestrian death in the Castro, walking and bicycling advocates today re-affirmed the greatest dangers facing pedestrians on San Francisco's streets: high-speed roads and dangerous driving behavior.

It's Walk to Work Day in San Francisco tomorrow and in recognition of the occasion, Walk SF is asking San Franciscans to post about their walking commute on Facebook and Twitter. Participants will not only enter to win a prize from Walk SF, but they'll be supporting good advocacy. GJEL Attorneys will donate $25 to Walk SF for each post made.

The San Francisco Police Department yesterday announced a commitment to reduce pedestrian injuries through targeted enforcement of dangerous driving.

Three alleyways in the city's motor-dominated South of Market (SoMa) area could be transformed into pedestrian-friendly havens with a new plan approved by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA) Board yesterday.

Two men were killed by drivers in San Francisco yesterday, but only one of those fatalities made national headlines.

It's a common sight in downtown San Francisco: drivers line up on a bustling street, waiting to make a turn, and one or two impatient motorists can't seem to believe that pedestrians are crossing in front of the queue.

It took a show of public outrage, but the SFPD has reversed course and decided to issue a traffic citation to the paratransit van driver who was videotaped running over a man who had the right of way at Leavenworth and Eddy Streets last week. The driver will be cited for failing to yield to a pedestrian; no criminal charges will be filed as of yet.

Despite clear video footage showing a shuttle bus driver running over a man in a crosswalk at Eddy and Leavenworth Streets yesterday, pinning him for 20 minutes, San Francisco police saw no reason to even issue a citation.

[Note: This proposal was approved by the full Board of Supervisors.]