Advocates Call For Traffic Safety State Of Emergency After Recent San Francisco Pedestrian Deaths
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – Advocates are calling for San Francisco city leaders to declare a state of emergency on traffic safety, following the deaths of two pedestrians on city streets in the past week.
Walk San Francisco, along with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and Supervisor Matt Haney, are expected to rally in front of City Hall Tuesday morning, less than two days after the driver of a Tesla hit two tourists at the intersection of Taylor and O'Farrell streets.
The collision killed 39-year-old Benjamin Dean and seriously injured his wife, who were in town celebrating their wedding anniversary. Police arrested the driver, identified as 21-year-old Kelsey Mariah Cambridge, on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter.
Sunday's death was the 14th fatality this year involving a pedestrian or a cyclist, according to Walk SF.
Last Thursday, a tractor-trailer fatally struck 54-year old Michael Evans at Fifth and Market Streets in a hit-and-run. Hours later, the truck driver was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and failure to yield to a pedestrian.
"This is a lot. We are on track to having one of our worst years in a long time in terms of car crashes and traffic deaths," Haney told KPIX 5 on Monday.
Aside from stepped up traffic enforcement at dangerous intersections, Walk SF wants lower speed limits on all city streets, more red light cameras at high-injury intersections and increased penalties against reckless drivers involved in fatal crashes.
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