District 5 Diary: Clueless, distracted pedestrians

In today's NY Times:

To the Editor:

Re “Pedestrians Still in Danger, Despite Drop in Traffic Deaths”:

Pedestrians are a danger to themselves. Jaywalkers appear out of nowhere when they dart into the street between cars and trucks. Many will cross against the light if they see no immediate approaching vehicle — or if they just happen to be in a hurry.

Intersections with left-turn signals render many pedestrians clueless that vehicles have the right of way (hint: that’s why the “walk” icon is not lit up).

The worst offenders are those who cross streets looking at their phones, including mothers pushing strollers. Just as we’re taught to drive defensively, it is equally important to walk defensively.

And let’s not forget the bicycle couriers who move in a state of anarchy unto themselves.

Thomas P. Roberts

Lawrenceville

New Jersey

Rob's comment:

Pedestrians and motorcyclists are most likely to die in traffic accidents in San Francisco (See pages 26-30 in the last Collisions Report) than motorists or cyclists:

The annual number of collisions resulting in fatalities has also remained relatively stable in the past four years at around 30 (Figure 2). In 2015 20 people were killed while walking, 4 while cycling, 6 while riding a motorcycle, and one while driving a motor vehicle. Motorcycle riders constitute a high percentage of deaths (19 percent in 2015). Like with overall injury collisions, the long-term trends are positive but the short-term trends in the past decade are discouraging as the annual totals appear to have stagnated. It is San Francisco’s goal under Vision Zero to eliminate all fatal collisions by the year 2024 (page 5).

For historical perspective on traffic fatalities in San Francisco, see New York City’s Pedestrian Safety Study and San Francisco Data of 2010. As recently as 2006, there were 55 traffic fatalities in the city (page 7).

But the city's Vision Zero chart below shows only 30 traffic deaths that year, which suggests the city's count has to be approached with skepticism: Traffic fatalities/injuries in SF and Vision Zero.

Last year City Hall crowed that Vision Zero was responsible for the low number (20) of traffic fatalities in 2017, but that number was back up over 20 in 2018.