The new Pedestrian Safety Plan cannot be implemented soon enough. Since the last post was published on this blog another pedestrian has been killed on San Francisco’s city streets.

The proposed strategy tackles pedestrian safety as an interdepartmental task, pooling resources and expertise to bring about the most substantial improvement. Instead of picking one safety improvement and implementing it throughout the city, the plan picks streets and corridors that have proven to be especially dangerous for pedestrians and makes multiple improvements in those targeted areas, creating an overall safer walking environment.

The long term goals of the initiative are to reduce serious and fatal pedestrian injuries by 25% by 2016 and 50% by 2021 especially in those areas where pedestrian fatalities are unacceptably high. The program also aims to make San Francisco a more walkable city in general, increasing the number of walking trips by 25% by 2021.

According to the SF Examiner, “the strategy calls for such initiatives as adding crossing time for pedestrians at intersections, reopening crosswalks, upgrading curb ramps and adding countdown timers at hundreds of intersections. The strategy also includes targeting speeders and red-light runners, along with those who fail to yield to pedestrians.”

If you ever need a pedestrian accident attorney in San Francisco, Paso Robles, or the surrounding Central California Coast area, contact us for a free consultation.

Source:

Volvo has developed an upgrade to its 2010 cyclist alert-and-brake car system. The system functions as a second driver with a faster reaction time, automatically reacting to imminent threats. Radar in the car’s grille and a camera located between its windscreen and back view mirror work to detect collision threats. If the car senses a pedestrian or a cyclist in its path an alarm will sound and the brakes will be fully deployed. The new system can detect multiple threats at once and will be available on a very limited basis. Only 7 out of their 11 models will offer the system and it will have to be ordered up-front before the parts even make it to a factory. Altogether the new system will cost £1,850 to buy it as a part of a package of added features.

Volvo’s system can handle multiple pedestrians and cyclists at the same time

In addition to the software upgrade, Volvo has also developed an airbag that will deploy beneath its front hood if sensors in the front bumper detect they have come into contact with a cyclist or pedestrian. This airbag is designed to reduce injury to the pedestrians head and neck.

Cycling advocates agree that while these innovations are helpful, they do not address the major issues affecting cyclists and pedestrians in most cities. These issues, bad street design and lack of driver training, need to be addressed in order to reduce collisions.

If you ever need a pedestrian accident attorney in San Francisco, Paso Robles, or the surrounding Central California Coast area, contact us for a free consultation.

Merchants along Polk Street are meeting March 18^th to discuss their concerns about SFMTA’s “Save Polk Street” Project. SFMTA has drafted proposals to reduce Polk Streets parking spaces by more than 50% in an effort to decrease the number of collisions on the street. 53 pedestrian and 69 bicycle collisions occurred on Polk Street between Union and McAllister streets from April 2006 to March 2011. The significant decrease in parking spaces will create a safer path for cyclists on one of their busiest commuting streets.

A couple of different changes have been proposed (all eliminating parking) and it is expected that one plan will be implemented by 2015. In order to see the short-term effects on businesses there will be a temporary trial run on a few blocks during the America’s Cup this summer.

Polk Street merchants are more than a little worried about the affect of the changes on their businesses.  “It’s going to kill business,” said 90-year-old Rita Paoli, owner of City Discount, a kitchen supply store at 1542 Polk St. “Go pick up a few dishes. Just weigh them. You try and carry them.” However, advocates of the change have cited numerous studies in San Francisco and New York City in which similar renovations have actually helped businesses.

Meeting: Concerns about ‘Save Polk Street’

Who: Polk Street Merchants

Where: It’s A Grind coffee shop on Polk and Washington streets

When: 6:30 p.m. March 18

If you ever need a bicycle accident attorney in San Francisco, Paso Robles, or the surrounding Central California Coast area, contact us for a free consultation.

Source:

http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/transportation/2013/02/polk-street-merchants-angry-about-plan-remove-parking-spaces#ixzz2MPIuEh6z

In his State of the City speech Mayor Ed Lee made it known that he was planning on creating a task force to take on San Francisco’s complicated and worn-out transportation system. This task is by no means an easy one. San Francisco’s public transportation network is a complicated web of city and regional agencies. These agencies each have their own complicated network of funders and these funders (and by proxy the agencies they fund) don’t always have the same agenda.

It looks like the task force’s main focus will be the aging MUNI system. However, the task force will need to partner with BART and Caltrain to help create a functional regional system. One of their first tasks may be to coordinate with the two agencies to put forth a measure for voters to approve new funding such as a vehicle license fee, a general bond measure or another tax-based initiative. All three agencies would benefit from such a measure.

Many task forces have been convened on this very issue in the past, all with limited success. However, “Lee has a history of getting results from such panels. Similar groups helped push through major reform plans for public pensions, the payroll tax and affordable-housing measures.”

So far, Supervisor Scott Wiener, Gabriel Metcalf, executive director of the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, Tom Nolan, chairman of Muni’s board of directors, and Board of Supervisors President David Chiu are top candidates for the task force. Although his nominatins have yet to be finalized, there are two groups that seem to be unrepresented in Ed Lee’s task force. First, the group is all male. Second, the pedestrian and cycling advocacy groups in the bay are unrepresentted. These oversights may be corrected before the task force is finalized, but it is important to recognize their absence.

In spite of these obvious oversights, this panel may see some actual results. “If Mayor Lee were not the person convening this, I would be very pessimistic,” Wiener said. “But his track record has shown that he knows how to take on these intractable long-term disputes.”

Sources:

http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/SF-Mayor-Ed-Lee-aims-at-transit-4244862.php

http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/transportation/2013/02/mayor-lee-s-task-force-hopes-tackle-transportation-issues-both-local-an

SFPD are investigating a hit and run in Cow Hollow that occurred on February 24th at around 2 a.m. Video surveillance and evidence left at the scene implicate a 2008-2012 Honda Accord.  It is described as “dark in color with major damage to the right front headlight, right fender, right side of the hood and the passenger-side windshield.” No other information has been released about the suspect

The accident occurred when the two pedestrians were walking along Green and Fillmore streets. The driver was traveling westbound on Green when they hit both pedestrians. The driver then fled the scene.

One victim was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries and subsequently releases. The second victim remains hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.

Anyone with information is asked to contact San Francisco Police anonymously at 575-4444 or Text-a-Tip to TIP411 and begin the message with SFPD.

Source:

http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/transportation/2013/03/SFPD-Cow-Hollow-hit-and-run%20

A tragic New Year’s Day accident leaves two people dead and a third in the hospital with life-threatening injuries after a man fleeing the scene of a shooting hit another vehcile and sent it flying into a building. The incident began near the Valencia Gardens housing complex at 14th and Guerrero streets at around 7:45am Tuesday morning. Police responded to a call reporting gunfire in the area and once they arrive on the scene they began to pursue a suspect in a vechile. The suspect fled the scene heading east on 21st Street when they collided with another car driving north on South Van Ness Avenue. The force of the collision sent the second vehicle careening into Muzio’s Wines and Liquor store at the northeast corner of the intersection.

The crash killed 26-year old Francisco Gutierrez, a pedestrian entering the liquor store, and an unidentified female passenger of the second vehicle. The driver of the second vehicle was transported to San Francisco General with life-threatening injuries. The suspect of the shooting at Valencia Gardens was arrested and transported to the hospital for treatment of their injuries. The unidentified person will face charges in connection with the deaths.

Source:

http://sfappeal.com/news/2013/01/medical-examiner-identifies-pedestrian-killed-by-fleeing-driver.php

Green Connections is a two year project that will “increase access to parks, open space and the waterfront, by re-envisioning City streets and paths as ‘green connectors’. This project builds on current efforts to create sustainable corridors that enhance mobility, green neighborhood streets, and improve pedestrian and bicycle access to community amenities and recreational opportunities.”

 

The Wayfinding Signs recently implemented by the SFMTA for the Americas Cup are one crucial part of this plan. The signs tell distance in time rather than miles. This trend puts San Francisco in the same boat as many other tourist-heavy cities since the signs allow people to better judge the advantages of walking. Especially in a city like San Francisco where walking is often not easy and flat, having estimated times can be encouraging.

These signs have been implemented in many of the more tourist-central areas like Fisherman’s Wharf and Union Square. The goal is to create a network around and within the city with pedestrian and cycling friendly walks connecting many of San Francisco’s major sights much as is envisioned in the following map.

 

 

Source:

http://sf.streetsblog.org/2012/09/27/wayfinding-signs-a-nice-touch-for-the-developing-green-connections-plan/

http://www.sf-planning.org/index.aspx?page=3002