Ed Lee finally admitting SF is not good for pedestrians! (Los Angeles: 2014, dangerous)

[mini_cute]

This was always one of my gripes about SF and finally some attention is getting shed on this issue. Ed Lee finally admits that you may not even be safe in the crosswalks!

Mayor Promises "Announcement" On Pedestrian Safety, Warns Walkers They Might Not Be Safe Even In Crosswalks

SF is a perfect storm of being the 2nd densest city with urban culture, but it is also in California which means that people LOVE to drive. Bring those ingredients together and you will have a deadly mix of people getting hit by cars. Plus the City isn't doing enough to slow those cars down, broaden sidewalks and let cars know, "You are not on a highway, you are driving in the middle of a busy urban city- slow the hell down!"

Six pedestrians were killed in the last 2 weeks in SF!!!

[sav858]

SF needs better transit. Buses and surface light rail is a pretty bad way to move people around a city built like SF. But clearly that's a very costly and time consuming thing to fix and would take decades even if the money was there.

[pch1013]

It would help if there weren't so many drugged-out and/or mentally ill zombies staggering around. I commute through SOMA and they generally seem rather unconcerned with traffic lights, crosswalks etc. -- they just wander into traffic wherever and whenever they feel like it.

[matt345]

Originally Posted by mini_cute

Plus the City isn't doing enough to slow those cars down, broaden sidewalks and let cars know, "You are not on a highway, you are driving in the middle of a busy urban city- slow the hell down!"

I completely agree. People regularly drive 40+mph on Pine, Post, Bush, Divisadero, Oak, Fell, Franklin....pretty much any of the thoroughfares the City seems to have designated as freeway substitutes. A friend of mine from DC visited last month and he immediately remarked on how fast the traffic was moving through the streets.

[mini_cute]

Originally Posted by sav858

SF needs better transit. Buses and surface light rail is a pretty bad way to move people around a city built like SF. But clearly that's a very costly and time consuming thing to fix and would take decades even if the money was there.

Yeah, the light rail and buses always get trapped in the traffic and it takes forever and is difficult to build new subways. The Central Subway is being built, but it is going to take awhile before it arrives and that is not enough. Public transit is where I am having a hard time being optimistic about for SF. There is a reason why Google buses exist and now the Google ferry is on its way.

[mini_cute]

Originally Posted by pch1013

It would help if there weren't so many drugged-out and/or mentally ill zombies staggering around. I commute through SOMA and they generally seem rather unconcerned with traffic lights, crosswalks etc. -- they just wander into traffic wherever and whenever they feel like it.

True, but most of the people hit were not of that kind. They were regular senior citizens, children, etc. You have to admit, 6 in 2 weeks in SF alone is alarming.

[matt345]

Originally Posted by mini_cute

True, but most of the people hit were not of that kind. They were regular senior citizens, children, etc. You have to admit, 6 in 2 weeks in SF alone is alarming.

While I agree that some pedestrians do exhibit dangerous behavior, I hope this doesn't lead to LA-style enforcement of jaywalking laws where you can be ticketed for entering a crosswalk after the "red hand and countdown" has started flashing:
L.A.'s over-the-line crackdown on jaywalking - Los Angeles Times

[mini_cute]

Originally Posted by matt345

I completely agree. People regularly drive 40+mph on Pine, Post, Bush, Divisadero, Oak, Fell, Franklin....pretty much any of the thoroughfares the City seems to have designated as freeway substitutes. A friend of mine from DC visited last month and he immediately remarked on how fast the traffic was moving through the streets.

I understand that people love their cars and are impatient and in a hurry, but do they have to drive so fast in an urban environment? It almost seems ridiculous. SF has steep hills for crying out loud and that doesn't stop them from testing the limits of their gas pedals. That video game "Driver San Francisco" is so appropriate.

[mini_cute]

Originally Posted by matt345

While I agree that some pedestrians do exhibit dangerous behavior, I hope this doesn't lead to LA-style enforcement of jaywalking laws where you can be ticketed for entering a crosswalk after the "red hand and countdown" has started flashing:
L.A.'s over-the-line crackdown on jaywalking - Los Angeles Times

Yeah better not. I think people should be allowed to cross as long as it is safe to do so. That is how it is in NYC and it worked and made a lot of sense. But again, the mindset of Californians is that pedestrians do not belong in the roads and better make way for the automobile gods.

[clongirl]

I think they need to ban making right turns on a red in San Francisco (if not everywhere).

It's like this in many parts of Europe and it just makes it safer for pedestrians crossing. It's rare to find drivers looking toward the right for people about to cross.

I had a friend that was hit on 19th ave while pushing a baby stroller. Fortunately they were alright. Driver was just turning- looking to the left for oncoming traffic rather than people crossing from the other side---and went. Of course nowadays, people may be texting/fidgeting with I-pods etc, and idiot pedestrians that try to cross in the middle of the street between cars...so it's really not a great place for either!