Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan, 72, was crossing the street at Grand and Shoreline in Alameda Wednesday just after 8 a.m. when a motorist struck her, causing a fatal head injury.
Investigation underway after pedestrian Is struck by a motorist.
"It’s going to be a huge loss," said Denyse Trepanier of Bike Walk Alameda, in a phone interview with Streetsblog. "Ms. Chan was killed by a driver near what has been identified as a high-injury intersection in Alameda's Vision Zero Action Plan."
Today we lost Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan, an incredible leader for children and families.
It’s unacceptable that our streets are too dangerous to take a dog out for a walk. We must make our streets safer for everyone.https://t.co/TVUt2PFs5C
"The tragic killing of Supervisor Chan marks the second year in a row that Alameda has experienced at least four traffic fatalities, over twice Alameda’s average. More people are killed and injured by people driving in Alameda than any other type of illegal activity," wrote Alameda City Councilperson John Knox White, in a text to Streetsblog. "Enough is enough!"
Alameda Police are still investigating the crash. Lieutenant Alan Kuboyama, a spokesperson for the department, told Streetsblog that the motorist, who was driving an SUV, was proceeding straight on Shoreline. From what Streetsblog could determine from an investigation of the scene and marks on the pavement, Chan was in or near the crosswalk at the time of the collision and was either propelled forward by the impact or rolled off the hood of the SUV and hit the pavement.
The SUV involved in the collision, currently in impound
Trepanier, meanwhile, told Streetsblog that this latest tragedy is a testament to how much work there is to do make streets safer. The intersection needs raised crosswalks or a speed table and other measures to force motorists to slow down. But reducing traffic violence will require a multi-faceted approach. "Everyone’s looking for this one root cause they want to blame for not fixing - but it’s cars."
A passer-by leaves more flowers at the location of Wednesday's tragedy
In Streetsblog's view, Trepanier is absolutely right. A key and often overlooked component of traffic safety is reducing motor vehicle use--period. Our streets are like a giant game of Russian Roulette. And every tool possible has to be used to reduce the number of fatal shots. One of those has to be to make it easier to bike, walk, and use transit--and harder to drive--so fewer opportunities exist for motorists to kill vulnerable road users in the first place.
A recently completed approach to Alameda Island, which is to the right, designed by Alameda County. Infrastructure such as this is hostile to cycling and walking and encourages more traffic violence
BART was the first accessible transit system in the country. Advocates want Bay Area transit agencies to do better at keeping buses and trains accessible for all