San Francisco, CA – We learned on Friday evening that a woman riding a bicycle on 7th Ave and Irving  was struck by a driver operating a large truck, resulting in massive bodily injury. 

Though we don’t yet know the identity of the victim, our thoughts are with her friends and family as they navigate this traumatic incident, and we are cautiously grateful for unconfirmed reports that she has survived, though surely with a long road to recovery.

Our hearts are heavy as we reflect on the continuing epidemic of traffic violence in San Francisco–this collision marks the fourth reported crash resulting in death or serious injuries within a week. On Friday, February 27, a two-year-old was killed while crossing the street with her mother.  Within 12 hours between Thursday and Friday last week, the Chronicle reported two other pedestrian fatalities – one in North Beach, where a vehicle was reversing down a one-way street, and a hit-and-run in Outer Mission, both on streets already part of the High Injury Network. We grieve with the friends and families of the three people killed this week. 

While we don’t yet know all the details surrounding these crashes, all collisions are preventable with slower streets and better infrastructure that reduce or eliminate conflicts between cars and vulnerable road users – these strategies have proven to save lives, but they require action and accountability from our elected officials. San Franciscans deserve to move through our city without fear of traffic violence, and we demand that our city leaders commit to delivering safe streets. 

While we appreciate Mayor Lurie’s comments on his Instagram that he’s convening department heads to “look closely at what more we can do to prevent these tragedies,” we already know what we need to do – the Mayor’s own Street Safety Initiative clearly lays out the policy changes and infrastructure implementations required to prevent these tragedies, and rapid implementation of last year’s Biking and Rolling Plan would also save lives. We have the data to help us make focused and effective changes to our streets right now, and safety on our streets cannot wait. 

Along with the many street safety advocates who have been working together for many years to push a more ambitious commitment to street safety, we will be watching closely to see what immediate next steps the Mayor and department heads will take.