What San Franciscans have to say about unsafe driving
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A reader captured this crash last week near Sherman Elementary. Photo: Courtesy of Barnett Trzcinski
Last week's newsletter on street safety resonated with a lot of you, and you shared your thoughts.
The big picture: An Axios analysis found that 10 streets account for about a third of all vehicle-pedestrian injury crashes in San Francisco — a pattern that hasn't changed since before the pandemic.
- We asked you to sound off on the issue, and many of you weighed in, citing dangerous driving behaviors, lack of enforcement and city bureaucracy as the biggest issues to address.
🚦 Multiple readers relayed personal experiences seeing drivers fail to check for pedestrians when making a right turn on red and blowing through stop signs — and even red lights.
- Roz A. called the post-pandemic state of driving in San Francisco "the worst I've seen in my lifetime," with flagrant disregard for pedestrians at an "all-time high."
- "At this point, I just assume cars will drive through crosswalks as I am walking through it," Jon T. added.
🚔 Brian K. expressed frustration that San Francisco "builds all these bus lanes, no right turn intersections and then never enforces them."
- "Have we totally written off traffic enforcement to automated cameras and that officer who puts on a chicken suit once a year?"
🚗 Emme K., the head gardener for Slow Sanchez Greenway, agreed, noting that police need to step up speed traps along corridors like Sanchez Street, where oncoming cars often play "chicken" with pedestrians, as if "daring to hit you."
⚠️ Lack of urgency and follow-through also surfaced among many readers.
- Street design "is not rocket science," Danielle F. said. "SFTMA needs to get its act together … we are only lacking intention when the data-driven methods already exist."
🎮 Vincent A. offered a novel solution: Add a video game simulation to test situational awareness as part of driver's license exams and renewal requests.
🚶 A handful of readers said pedestrians need to recognize their role in the ecosystem.
- People increasingly cross the street while scrolling on their phones — "oblivious to the world" — and drivers often encounter "intoxicated people" stepping into the streets, Brian F. said.
Go deeper: Behind the street safety fix SF advocates say could save lives<br/>