San Francisco Pedestrian Deaths Hit 6-Year High In 2013

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— San Francisco pedestrian deaths hit a six-year high in 2013 with 20 deaths, two of which occurred on New Year's Eve.

After an 87-year-old man was hit and killed by a pickup truck in the Crocker Amazon neighborhood Tuesday afternoon, a seven-year-old girl was struck and killed around 8 p.m. while crossing the street at Polk and Ellis in the Tenderloin District.

The girl was crossing with an adult woman who is suffering serious injuries and a little boy who was less seriously injured. Police said drugs or alcohol did not appear to be a factor in the collision, but the driver was arrested on a manslaughter charge.

Nicole Schneider of the organization, Walk SF, said too many people out for a walk are killed each year.

"This trend upward is frightening and alarming and I think it calls for everyone in San Francisco to demand safer streets."

Schneider said the number killed in 2013 was the highest annual total since 2007. The number of bicyclists killed for that year had a separate tally.

Schneider suggested infrastructure investments in order to make improvements every year to try to lower the numbers.

"Children and seniors are the most vulnerable people out on the street," she said, noting the amount of children who walk to school and how there are areas near schools that are dangerous for them to be walking.