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San Francisco Still Among Most Dangerous For Pedestrians
dkatana writes: The city of San Francisco averages 200 injuries per year and 30 deaths. This is almost double the number of Barcelona, Catalonia, which has about the same population. The city started a Vision Zero program, aimed at reducing and ultimately eliminate pedestrian deaths by 2024. But after a year-long Vision Zero education push called Safe Streets SF, whose key message is that pedestrians always have the right of way, the results have been modest. Now a series of banners on light poles in the South of Market neighborhood with the message: 'Slow down! We live here!' are trying to convince drivers to respect people on foot.
whose key message is that pedestrians always have the right of way
What? Should that be "they always have the right of way if on a crosswalk"? Because otherwise I think I can explain your pedestrian death rate...
...But if it is anything like my home town, a concurrent campaign of 'hey, you there walking, actually exercise a little caution' would be probably a good idea too. A few too many people on both sides of this equation acting like they are the only thing moving out there.
Peds SHOULD NOT have the right of way. people can stop on a dime. cars cannot. you dont make the oil tanker yield to the dinghy.
Yep, but once again this statistic falls very, VERY firmly in favor of a less-dense San Francisco. You get about 18 million visitors per year (http://www.sanfrancisco.travel/article/record-breaking-economic-impact-2014) versus 27 million annually for Barcelona (http://www.thelocal.es/20150705/barcelona-struggles-with-rising-tide-of-tourists). That's 1.5 tourists in Barca for every one in SanFran, another big reason why Barcelona is by far the more densely-populated city.
If only we force people to engage in a diverse, non-confrontational conversation
I know you are trying to be funny, but this is exactly what SF is failing to do. All of their effort is focused on changing driver behavior, when much of the effort should be on pedestrian behavior. When pedestrians step into traffic without even looking, the metal in my bumper isn't going to care that they "always have the right of way".
Another problem is that driving in SF can can very confusing, draining driver attention. Try to make a left turn onto Market Street on a busy day. Some streets should just be shut down and turn into pedestrian malls, such as Grant Street through Chinatown, since all the tourists are already oblivious to the cars.
with very few exceptions every single comment in this thread blames pedestrians for jumping out in front of cars
in San Francsico, crossing a street, within the crosswalk, with the light, is a stupid act of faith that some idiot isn't going to
mow you down. bikers taking turns without looking, ubers shooting across the street looking only at their phones
some self important dickhead in a bmw blowing a red 20 seconds after its turned.
collectively - you're the worst. people who might actually want to walk 10 blocks instead of getting in their cars are effectively
disposable human trash who should really just be killed for forcing you to slow down for a few seconds.
None of the recent fatalities involved cars driving wrecklessly.
I've driven wrecklessly for many years. That's because I try not to drive recklessly.
That should read "failure to yield to the pedestrian that just stepped into the crosswalk about right in front of my car" SF law says I have to stop, Newton's law says I can't. Newton always wins. Some drivers in SF are idiots, I agree. However, pedestrians who think that cars can stop on a dime and bicyclists who think that traffic signals don't pertain to them are much more at fault (and yes, I walk, ride, and drive in San Francisco).