Posts Tagged ‘pedestrians’

An ongoing seismic retrofit project to make California’s Golden Gate more secure in the event of an earthquake has created an unexpected safety dilemma for the up to 6,000 cyclists and 10,000 pedestrians who cross the famous bridge each day. Construction crews have temporarily closed the bridge’s west sidewalk, meaning that pedestrians and cyclists alike must share the east sidewalk, which gets as slim as 5.5 feet. While there have so far been no accidents, the Marin Independent Journal reports that sharing the sidewalk has created a clear safety dilemma and sparked disputes between cyclists and pedestrians forced to share the space.

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You may have seen the video of a mall shopper falling into a fountain while writing a text message on her cell phone. If not, watch it here. Pedestrian mishaps like this have led some to ask whether walkers should be subject to regulation similar to distracted driving laws that have sprouted up across the country. To most, the idea of getting a ticket for writing a text message or talking on the phone while crossing the street sounds absurd. But a distracted walking law has already been proposed in New York, and some California residents think it should be considered over here as well.

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The thought of being killed as a pedestrian in San Francisco is terrifying. Fatal pedestrian accidents happen far too often in the Bay Area, especially considering that San Francisco was recently ranked the second most walkable city by the website Walk Score. Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible to guarantee pedestrian safety in a busy city like San Francisco. Organizations like WalkSF have been incredible about raising awareness about pedestrian safety programs and lobbying the city to make serious improvements. But fatal accidents remain too common far in San Francisco, which has already mourned 9 pedestrians this year.

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As a proud San Francisco resident, I’m excited when organizations or magazines rank the city as a great destination for anything and everything. That was my initial reaction when I saw this week that the website Walk Score ranked San Francisco as the country’s second most walkable city, and my former home, Oakland, as the country’s 10th most walkable. But as the writer for a Bay Area streets safety blog, it didn’t take long for this initial glee to turned to skepticism. I’m constantly reading about tragic pedestrian deaths on San Francisco streets – last week marked the city’s 8th already this year – and I know that even more pedestrian accidents go unreported. So while I’m glad to see that San Francisco is a walkable city on paper, the city must earn that reputation by getting serious about improving pedestrian safety.

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We’ve all used Google Maps to find the best route to our desired location. What originally began as a resource for drivers has since expanded to include directions suggestions for pedestrians, bicyclists, and riders of public transportation. Of course, this raises a number of safety implications, since pedestrians and cyclists are always in more danger than motorists while navigating city streets. But if a pedestrian or cyclist is injured while following Google Maps directions, should they be able to sue the internet search mega conglomerate? A Utah district court ruled recently that Google is not liable since they did not owe the victim a duty, and since the company provides a valuable public service that is applied generally to all consumers.

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We’ve written a lot about car safety for senior drivers after losing eyesight, motor skills, or mental capacity. But a recent Los Angeles Times report notes that seniors are also in danger of traffic accidents outside their cars. In fact, according to last month’s “Dangerous By Design” study of traffic deaths between 2000 and 2009, seniors comprised a disproportionate 22 percent of pedestrian deaths, while making up 13 percent of the population. This morning, a group of San Francisco seniors plan to bring attention to senior pedestrian accidents with a streets safety event aptly named “DeathRace 2011.”

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Since The Bay Citizen began publishing local news little more than a year ago, their Bike Accident Tracker app has been one of my favorite features. First, the app mapped San Francisco bicycle accidents and tracked the causes and conditions for each collision. This week, the Citizen has expanded its bike accident tracker to include all Bay Area bicycle accidents, and has found some surprising statistics. Though San Francisco reports far more bike accidents than Contra Costa County, for example, the suburban area (also the home of GJEL’s main office), is far more dangerous in terms of percentage of cyclists involved in bike accidents each year.

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We wrote yesterday about the new “Dangerous by Design” report by Transportation for America, which found that pedestrian accident deaths make up 51 percent of all San Francisco traffic fatalities, more than four times the national average. The husband of the victim of a 2010 Mission Street bus accident filed a wrongful death lawsuit Monday against San Francisco Muni, saying the driver of a 14 Mission bus was unwrapping a candy bar when she failed to see 49-year-old Scott Whitsett crossing the street. When the operator, Kimberly Faye Johnson, saw Whitsett, she allegedly hit the accelerator instead of the brake by mistake, which led to the collision. This incident marks the newest in a string of serious injuries and wrongful death lawsuits that show a clear need for San Francisco to improve street safety.

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Early this morning, Wednesday May 25, a pedestrian was struck and killed by a vehicle on the corner of Pierce Street and Lombard Street in San Francisco’s Marina District. San Francisco Police Department spokesman Lt. Troy Dangerfield said the 30-year-old driver did not see the pedestrian before the collision took place, but did not appear to be driving under the influence of alcohol. This tragic death follows a string of pedestrian accidents on Masonic Avenue that led to a $20 million plan to improve pedestrian safety on that street, and highlights the need for additional pedestrian safety plans throughout San Francisco.

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It seems like common sense that reducing the speed limit would reduce the number of car accidents on city streets and highways. But if you look at the statistics a little closer, it’s clear that speed limit has little impact on the frequency of car accidents, and in some cases, higher speed limits have led to even safer roads. In 2008, for example, Purdue University reported that higher speed limits in Indiana had no impact on the number of car accidents. But anecdotal evidence shows that highways and city streets react differently to higher speed limits, due partially to the existence of pedestrians and cyclists within city limits.

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