Man who sought safe streets killed in S.F. crash

Kenneth "Bryan" Goodwin worked as a legal clerk for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Kenneth "Bryan" Goodwin worked as a legal clerk for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Photo: Bill Keener, Courtesy Of Nance Becker Photo: Bill Keener, Courtesy Of Nance Becker Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Man who sought safe streets killed in S.F. crash 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

(11-07) 21:58 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- A wheelchair-using San Francisco man who fought for safe streets for the disabled is being mourned this week by friends and family after he was fatally struck by a car in one of the city's most dangerous intersections.

Kenneth "Bryan" Goodwin, 31, who faced struggles as a 3-foot-tall man but rarely let it show, was headed home from a friend's house early Monday morning when he was hit by a driver at Market Street and Octavia Boulevard.

Police are investigating the collision, which happened just after midnight, but have not detailed what happened.

As a memorial of flowers marked the crash site, many who knew Goodwin - and some who didn't - recalled him as small man with a big and infectious enthusiasm.

"He was a noticeable guy because he didn't look like anyone else," said friend and attorney Nance Becker. "The fact is he could have had a very narrow life, but through his intelligence and personality, he had a fuller life."

She added: "After all he had been through, to get hit by a car, it's crazy."

Goodwin, who had a congenital bone disorder known as osteogenesis imperfecta, worked as a legal clerk for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where everyone in the 900-person San Francisco office knew him, colleagues said.

"It was hard not to know Bryan," said the EPA's regional administrator, Jared Blumenfeld. "He was a very large character. He was some of the glue that held us together."

Goodwin would send witty group e-mails or give playful advice to co-workers, Blumenfeld said, always finding his way into the spotlight. Not so visible, friends said, were the obstacles Goodwin faced - like getting trapped in a BART elevator, or being robbed of his cell phone.

If someone found out about his misfortune, Goodwin would brush it off with humor.

One incident he couldn't sugarcoat was an accident he suffered in 2011. Goodwin was on his way to catch a bus when his wheelchair hit a bump in the sidewalk and he fell. While Goodwin was treated at a hospital, someone made off with his wheelchair.

He ended up staying at the hospital for five days because he had no way of getting around, said Becker, who represented Goodwin in a claim against the city. The result was a new citywide policy requiring emergency responders to tend to the mobility devices of patients.

The intersection of Market and Octavia was the scene of 30 collisions between 2009 and 2011, city records show. That's more than any other place in San Francisco.

The chief problem is motorists driving east on Market, making illegal right turns onto the Highway 101 onramp, and hitting bicyclists or pedestrians. Three days before the crash that killed Goodwin, the city began camera enforcement at the intersection to catch drivers making the turns.

It's unclear whether the surveillance camera filmed Monday's incident, and police have not said whether Goodwin was struck by a car making an illegal turn, though investigators did speak with the driver after the collision.