69-year-old woman killed by truck driver in the Mission

69-year-old woman killed by truck driver in the MissionPhoto: Google Maps
Teresa Hammerl
Published on November 01, 2019

A 69-year-old female pedestrian was struck and killed by a truck driver on Thursday near 19th Street and South Van Ness Avenue.

The incident occurred around 3:26 p.m. An SFPD spokesperson said the woman was transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, where she later died. 

“The driver and the vehicle remained on-scene and cooperated with our investigation,” the spokesperson said, adding that no arrest was made.

Bay City News reports that the woman has been identified by the SF Medical Examiner's office as Pilsoo Seong of San Francisco. 

According to pedestrian advocacy organization Walk SF, Seong is the 16th person to be killed while walking or cycling in San Francisco in 2019.

“Our hearts go out to the victim’s family and friends,” said Walk SF executive director Jodie Medeiros in a statement. 

South Van Ness Avenue is one of the city’s high-injury corridors, the 13% of streets where 75% of traffic crashes occur. While San Francisco has set a Vision Zero goal of ending all traffic fatalities on city streets by 2024, it's struggling to meet that aim.

Last year, 23 people died on city streets, and that number seems likely to be surpassed in 2019. As of August 31, the 2019 death toll from traffic fatalities in San Francisco was 22 people. While up-to-date figures are not currently available, that number that doesn't include Seong and another pedestrian who were killed in September and October. 

“Lives are being lost all too frequently, and devastating families and our communities,” Medeiros said.

Earlier this year, Walk SF, together with Supervisor Matt Haney and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, asked city leaders to declare a state of emergency for traffic safety. Haney's resolution will go to the Board of Supervisors next Tuesday for a final vote. 

“We see declaring a state of emergency for traffic safety as a necessary step to both acknowledge the crisis on our streets, and support unprecedented levels of action,” Medeiros said. “Safe streets must be at the top of the list of priorities for city leaders across every agency.”