Supervisor Fiona Ma: Prioritizing Pedestrian Safety

Pedestrian Safety is a top priority and concern for me. Every year in the United States, approximately 5,000 pedestrians are killed and 85,000 pedestrians injured. That means a pedestrian is killed or injured every six minutes.

Within the first six months of my election as supervisor of District 4, there were two fatalities in the 19th Avenue corridor.  This prompted my office to work with then-Mayor Willie Brown on a "Slow Down, Look Around" outreach and education media campaign. 

In addition to that, we have been re-striping crosswalks in school vicinities, increasing stop signs in key locations, conducting crosswalk stings, asking for more driving-under-the-influence -of-alcohol (DUI) checkpoints and pushing for more traffic enforcement. In fact, traffic enforcement citations are up throughout the Taraval Police District, so much so that the Sunset and Parkside districts comprise the highest traffic-violation-writing-district in the City!

I am happy to report that due to this combination of efforts, pedestrian fatalities have dramatically decreased from five in 2003 to one in 2004. However, one fatality is still one too many.  In an effort to develop a pedestrian safety agenda, I met with various groups from pedestrian advocacy groups to senior citizen organizations and city departments to find a solution.

Some of the infrastructure needs that we all agreed upon were priorities to increase pedestrian safety. These included installing more pedestrian countdown signals, painting more ladder striped crosswalks at key intersections, prioritizing compliance for ADA-accessible curb ramps, building corner curb bulb outs and increasing pedestrian safety signs to safeguard the use of our sidewalks.

Ultimately, these discussions led to my introduction of a Pedestrian Protections Ordinance, which outlines the City's safety needs as detailed above and sets goals and deadlines for City departments to complete these type of projects. This ordinance is currently going through the community process.

Further efforts in the area of pedestrian safety specific to the Sunset include a  "4 a Safer Sunset" project to promote safer conditions for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers. This effort is led by the Sunset District Neighborhood Coalition (SDNC).  Currently, the group is circulating a survey to document neighborhood concerns and to solicit ideas for improving safety in the Sunset. 

Our office will work closely with the SDNC as it develops a "Sunset Community Action Plan for Safer Streets," which is to be completed by November. Register your opinions and ideas for the project at the Pedestrian Safety Education and Information Forum, which will be held at the Sunset Recreation Center, 2201 Lawton St., on Saturday, May 14, from 10 a.m. to noon. For more information on this specific project, call (415) 665-5579 or e-mail safersunset@yahoo.com.

I am proud to be a leading pedestrian safety advocate and will continue to fight for safer streets. If you are interested in receiving more information or getting involved in these efforts, please do not hesitate to contact my office at (415) 554-7460.

Fiona Ma is a San Francisco supervisor representing District 4.