San Francisco

Memorial held in San Francisco for deadly traffic accident victims

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Many gathered outside of San Francisco City Hall for the tenth annual World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. Nathalie Vera has the details.

Many gathered outside of San Francisco City Hall for the tenth annual World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.

Organizers painted 317 pairs of shoes white, called ghost shoes, to honor the victims who were killed in crashes over the past decade in San Francisco. The memorial also included the names and photos of those who were killed.

"The numbers are really high in terms of the number of people that are in crashes being hit by a vehicle a driver, and so this is a welcoming environment, this is a space to heal, this is a space for people to come together and see that people want safe streets," said Jodie Medeiros, the executive director of Walk SF.

Ahead of the event, organizers posted memorial signs at the sites of deadly traffic crashes across the city.

It wasn't until 10 years ago that the city became intent on Vision Zero, a proactive approach to ending traffic-related deaths and injuries.

"Over the course of the last 10 years of the city passing the Vision Zero policy, on average 500 people a year have been in crashes. We also think that is often under reported. Not everyone goes in an ambulance to SF General," said Medeiros.

Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 645, which helped legalize surveillance cameras to help catch speeding drivers. Starting next month, the five-year pilot program will install cameras in six cities, including San Francisco.

At Sunday's memorial, city leaders, organizers, and the transit agency read the names of every victim over the past decade.

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