Vision Zero strategy aims to keep San Francisco streets safe

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Forty-thousand people a year are killed in accidents on streets all over the country, from pedestrians to drivers.

Today, there is a strategy to try to eliminate those traffic fatalities called Vision Zero.

San Francisco is one of 33 cities nationwide taking the lead for safer streets.

Police from the Taraval station of San Francisco used a pedestrian decoy to make sure drivers stopped before reaching the crosswalk Thursday afternoon. They sometimes don't.

"We want to make sure that our pedestrians and our residents are safe walking throughout streets," said Robert Yick, captain of the Taraval Station.

The effort to educate people is part of the Vision Zero strategy, which San Francisco began in 2014 after 34 people were killed the previous year -- seven in a single month.

"That's almost two a week," said Edward Reiskin, the director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. "That's when we said, 'you know what, this is no longer acceptable.' We're not going to just accept that people are going to die just getting around San Francisco. Every one of those is preventable."

In the past three years, the city has been busy redesigning San Francisco streets, re-striping crosswalks and painting red zones at corners so there's a better sight line between the driver and the pedestrian.

The Vision Zero strategy is paying off. In 2017, there were 20 fatalities in San Francisco, down 41 percent from 2013. Today, city officials renewed their commitment to having safer streets.

Alvin Lester lost his only son after being hit by a driver.

"Think about that stop sign that you are about to come to ... You'll help someone live another day. I guarantee that," said Lester.

The city's goal is to get to zero fatalities by 2024.