Turning Our Streets from Speedways to Safe Havens: A Call for Urgent Redesign
By Jen Nossokoff
Yesterday, our neighborhood in the Inner Richmond experienced a terrifying event that underscores the urgent need to redesign our streets for safety. A speeding car, driven by a man fleeing police officers after committing a violent crime, crashed into my neighbor’s building.
Eyewitnesses estimated he was driving about 65 mph in a 20 mph zone, easily blowing through every stop sign on Cabrillo Street. This was the second time a car crashed into a building on Cabrillo within blocks of each other in the last two months. While this most recent situation was unique, the broader issue is that our street design allows such reckless speeds, putting everyone at risk.
The fact that a driver was physically able to use our neighborhood street as his personal Autobahn is a glaring problem. My child’s safety, and the safety of all residents, should not depend solely on whether others decide to follow the rules. We need to implement a “road diet” to slow down traffic and mitigate the potential for damage.
A road diet involves repurposing the space to prioritize bike lanes, pedestrian walkways and landscaped medians. This simple yet effective approach has been proven to reduce traffic speeds, decrease collisions and create a safer environment for all road users. Cities like Seattle and New York have successfully implemented road diets, resulting in safer streets and enhanced community spaces.
In response to the crash yesterday, there have been calls to increase policing in our area. While policing can play a role in preventing crimes, it is a fool’s errand to think we can “solve crime” or police our way to safety alone. We need to focus on risk mitigation. We wouldn’t wait for a fully staffed police department to put locks on our doors, so why is the city hesitating to act on basic street safety measures?
The recent tragedy in West Portal is another stark reminder of the importance of street safety. It’s a miracle that none of the many children, including my own, who frequent the intersection that was hit yesterday, were hurt. This incident highlights the need for immediate action to redesign our streets to protect pedestrians and cyclists.
The call to action is clear: The City must prioritize street safety and embrace design solutions that are proven to protect people. This includes implementing road diets, adding speed bumps and roundabouts, creating pedestrian zones and enhancing bike lanes. These measures, some of which are quite simple, can significantly reduce traffic speeds, decrease the likelihood of accidents and create a safer, more livable environment for everyone.
We need to shift our focus from reactive measures, such as increased policing, to proactive solutions that address the root causes of traffic violence. By redesigning our streets, we can create an environment where safety is built into the infrastructure, rather than relying solely on individual behavior.
Our community deserves streets that are safe for children to play, residents to walk and cyclists to ride. It’s time for the City to take bold action and make the necessary changes to ensure our streets are safe for everyone. We have the tools and the knowledge to create safer streets. Now we need the political will and community support to make it happen.
Yesterday’s crash in Inner Richmond underscores the flaws in our street design and the urgent need for safer streets. Implementing a road diet, which reallocates space for bike lanes and pedestrian walkways, is a proven solution. We need proactive measures, not just increased policing, to create a safer, more livable environment for all residents. Let’s prioritize street safety and embrace design solutions that protect our community. Join me in urging the City to implement these changes for safer streets.
Jen Nossokoff is a public-school parent, physician assistant and common-sense gun reform advocate. She is a candidate for District 1 supervisor. Her focus is on community safety, transportation and health equity. To learn more visit www.Jen2024.vote.
This piece was written by Jen with the use of generative AI and a writing tool in compliance with the guidelines set by the City and County of San Francisco.
Categories: Commentary
Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon 
This is such a load of non-profit carpetbagging it’s out-loud laughable!
“Yesterday’s crash in Inner Richmond underscores the flaws in our street design and the urgent need for safer streets. Implementing a road diet, which reallocates space for bike lanes and pedestrian walkways, is a proven solution.”
SF has seen what “well-intentioned” MTA dictators can do to local businesses:
Project : ZERO Surviving Local Business.
Kick Nossokoff and her “moderate Billionaire” backers back to NYC already.
Her sole contribution to law is suing a former employer – then failing on three occasions to even show up to be deposed! This insanity about redesigning PERFECTLY SAFE SF streets constantly (with a disproportionate number of developers and billionaires pouring dark money into thinly veiled “non-profits” purpose built to do their bidding) is beyond fantasy – it’s a nightmare for local business during an unprecedented deficit that their “moderate” corruption helped create!
“WalkSF” -right out of town on a rail. “GlobalSF” -take it anywhere else.
Nossokoff thinks she knows better because she’s a public school parent? Because she supports a softball position on “common sense” gun control, in liberal SF? Gee.
Project : Zero information voters, zero disclosure 501c3-c4 collaboration.
“If we pay zero attention at all, it all sounds pretty good!” Nevermind the record. Nevermind their deficits, back-room connections. Just enjoy the free promises.
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I don’t know much about this person as it seems like she just kind of showed up to the Richmond and is now acting like she’s been here forever. But I am so fed up with her articles and naive attitude about how the city works. Also the public school parent identity/title is obnoxious and elitist and frankly just tone deaf and condescending. It’s basically saying “I’m rich and privileged but I choose to let my child go to public school so I must be a great person.” Wake up lady. Did you know that some people actually don’t get to choose to be a public parents because they can’t actually afford to do anything else. Are they walking around bragging about being a “public school parent?” I doubt it! I can’t stand the snobbery and self-righteousness of this person who lives in such a tiny world. She is completely out of touch with people outside her socio-economic demographic and I hope she loses badly, which she will!
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Competing proposal :
Vote for a (competent) Richmond supervisor instead to help hold Breed’s corrupt cash-shod feet to the oversight fire and HIRE SOME TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT COPS if you’re REALLY intending to have people drive more safely. *(Are they?)
It’s actually NOT rocket science that requires a non-profit “Grift SF” spokesman to advertise “new traffic calming signs”, it’s actually very simple : Hire COPS and have them do their jobs like they used to once upon a less corrupt time. SFPD ticketing is single-digit percentages of what it was just a decade ago. The buck stops where?
This is BREED’s legacy and Nossokoff’s folly – Project : ZERO Accountability!
Zero Police Enforcement, Zero Connection to Reality, Zero Taxes left for this BS.
Zero ACTUAL interest in SAFETY, just a hidden agenda funded in ZERO Oversight.
Sorry Jen, being a public school parent isn’t writ license to “Grift SF”, thanks.
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Another good intentioned but misdirected platform from this candidate. Traffic calming measures can only do so much when there are drivers out there that don’t care and will drive like maniacs because they know they can get away with it. We need more enforcement so there is an incentive for people to drive better. Also, stop with the use of AI to write these articles already! If you cannot write an opinion piece for the Richmond Review without using AI, I don’t trust you are competent enough to write legislation for a major city.
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“A road diet involves repurposing the space to prioritize bike lanes, pedestrian walkways and landscaped medians. This simple yet effective approach has been proven to reduce traffic speeds, decrease collisions and create a safer environment for all road users.”
A road diet will not stop fleeing criminals from crashing into buildings; your example from the article. It will also not stop drivers who have no regard for the existing traffic laws or tragic freak accidents like the one on West Portal.
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you will have to give her the benefit of the doubt as she seems pretty new to SF or at least the outer neighborhoods. she just shows up and thinks it should be a utopian suburb because she’s arrived! yes less crime and traffic accidents would be nice but we already have it pretty good out here in the Richmond with all the slow streets and closed roads in GG Park and Great Highway. she should see what it’s like to live in some of the less fortunate neighborhoods when it comes to safe streets for bicyclists and pedestrians.
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