Hits, kills pedestrian

Rider on electric scooter hits, kills pedestrian in San Francisco

There have been 9 pedestrian deaths in San Francisco this year

By Gillian Mohney

A 77-year-old man was killed after being hit by a person riding an electric scooter, according to a statement from the San Francisco Police Department. 

The pedestrian was crossing Market Street at Sixth Street just before 4 p.m. on Friday when he was struck by a person riding an electric scooter. The man died of his injuries after he was taken to a hospital, police said.

According to Walk San Francisco and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, SFPD originally described the vehicle as a Lime scooter, though on Tuesday afternoon, SFPD updated its report of the collision to clarify the scooter was not in fact part of Lime’s fleet, the organizations said in updated news releases. Lime also reached out to SFGATE to confirm its scooter was not involved in the collision.

The person riding the scooter stayed at the scene, according to police, and they have not been charged in the death. Police said drugs and alcohol do not appear to be a factor in the collision. 

Traffic safety groups have been sounding the alarm about an increasing number of traffic-related deaths.

San Francisco adopted Vision Zero in 2014. It aimed to reduce traffic deaths in the city to zero by 2024. However, traffic-related fatalities did not decrease over time, and last year, San Francisco had 42 traffic fatalities, the highest number since 2007. Of these fatalities, 24 were pedestrians. Traffic safety advocates say that more needs to be done to protect pedestrians on San Francisco streets. 

“Most of all, we need streets to be designed and enforced to support safe behavior and protect our most vulnerable,” Marta Lindsey, a spokesperson for Walk San Francisco, said in a statement. “We can measure our city’s safety by how safe kids and seniors are. This tragedy shows how far San Francisco has to go with traffic safety and why it needs to be a priority for city leaders.” 

Including this case, there have been nine pedestrians killed in San Francisco this year. Seven of those killed were over age 65, according to data from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

Claire Amable, director of advocacy for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, said many people using electric scooters in the city are unaware of the rules of the road and more needs to be done to educate them. 

“The most vulnerable road users should be given deference and as much space as possible; pedestrians are more vulnerable than bike and scooter users, and people biking and rolling are more vulnerable than those driving cars,” Amable said in a statement.