The signs—posted by SFMTA—appear at the intersections with such shocking regularity that it’s hard to remember it wasn’t always like this.

On October 31, 69-year-old Pilsoo Seong became the 25th person this year to die at the hands of drivers when she was struck and killed at South Van Ness and 19th Street. Last year, a total of 23 people were killed on San Francisco’s streets, the lowest number since the introduction of the automobile—a number the city surpassed in August.

The crush of cars overwhelming San Francisco streets has blanketed the city with an uneasy fear for those who traverse it on foot or bike. A growing number of people who use cars to make a living coupled with a dearth of police presence has led to more vehicles blocking crosswalks and parking in bike lanes, posing a greater threat to pedestrians and cyclists than ever before.

Uber and Lyft trips alone are estimated to have increased traffic congestion in the city by 40 percent. A 2018 report by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority concluded that “between 43 percent and 61 percent of [Uber and Lyft] trips substitute for transit, walk, or bike travel or would not have been made at all.”

How to report illegal parking Pedestrians and cyclists can report illegal parking (e.g., blocked bike lanes and sidewalks) by calling the Municipal Transportation Agency Department of Parking and Traffic at 415-553-1631.

This week, the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution declaring a state of emergency for traffic safety in San Francisco. While resolutions are merely policy statements with no actionable requirements, it may succeed in drawing attention to the crisis unfolding on SF streets.

“So much can be done to stop these devastating crashes,” says Jodie Medeiros, executive director of Walk San Francisco.

Medeiros points to one way to save lives: speed reduction. The faster a driver is going, the more likely it is that a crash could kill or severely injure someone.

“San Francisco has to get aggressive on speed,” she says. “Police enforcement of speeding has plummeted, and this needs to change ASAP. San Francisco also needs to bring speed safety cameras to our streets. And we need the deadliest streets to get the kind of serious improvements that will keep vehicles moving at safe speeds.”

Speed cameras are outlawed by the state of California. Physical improvements to streets, even if fast-tracked, have been slow to materialize. But in the meantime, the city could station traffic enforcement officials at deadly intersections, especially during rush hours.

Take, for example, Howard and First Streets, the scene of the driver-related death of a 30-year-old pedestrian on June 27. Five months later, no effort has been made by the city to address what has become an increasingly dangerous crossing. I know because I use it daily.

Each day, as I cross this intersection to go from the Vox Media office in the East Cut to my home in SoMa—a roughly 10-block trek—I must squeeze in between cars intentionally blocking the crosswalk. I have started leaving the office early just to avoid the even larger crush of traffic that descends upon this intersection by 5 p.m.

This happens again at Howard and First. And Howard and Hawthorne. And Second and Folsom.

Third and Folsom, adjacent to the Yerba Buena children’s playground and ice skating rink, is one of the scariest places to walk. On a recent weekday, I watched families with young kids maneuvering around cars in the crosswalk. Even as children crossed, drivers edged forward into the intersection in their haste to merge onto the Bay Bridge. And when the Giants are in town and people head to Oracle Park, the number of pedestrians here more than doubles.

The list of dangerous intersections goes on. And the signs keep going up.

Tuesday’s resolution will not result in any targeted enforcement of key locations. That’s the responsibility of San Francisco’s Vision Zero initiative, adopted in 2014, which aims to reduce the number of traffic-related fatalities to zero in five years.

I’m no longer optimistic that the city can achieve that goal. But Medeiros says Walk SF, which was instrumental in getting the resolution passed, is determined to turn the declaration into solutions.

The declaration “sends a message that it’s time for unprecedented levels of action,” she says. “And we intend to hold city leaders accountable to this.”

Update: Shortly after publishing this article, I received word that an 60-year-old pedestrian Jesus Ocampo, who was hit while walking at 16th Street and De Haro in Potrero Hill on November 2, succumbed to his injuries. This marks the 26th person to die on our city’s streets in 2019.

“We grieve yet another life lost to traffic violence,” says Medeiros.