Traffic Safety
Last month, at Fourth and Channel streets – where in February a driver ran a red light, killing a two-year-old and injuring her mother – municipal officials installed plastic posts to protect the bike lane and repainted thick white stripes in the crosswalks. Traffic safety advocates blame the roadway’s design, which features zigzagging turns, wide space for automobiles, and an absence of red-light cameras and traffic signals timed to give pedestrians a head start, for elevating travel hazards. In March, Safe Street Rebel placed flexible stakes along the bike lane, which San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency staff replaced with new posts, creating a permanent “separated bikeway.” Police previously arrested the driver, Merih Fssha Solomon of Walnut Creek, on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter in connection with the February incidence.
