SF Chinatown deadly crash sparks debate over elderly drivers, pedestrian safety

A screenshot from security footage of a crash that killed one person and injured another in San Francisco's Chinatown neighborhood on Friday, March 27.

The San Francisco Chinatown community is calling for more safeguards for pedestrians after a deadly crash last week.

Community members and city leaders said they'd like more stop signs, speed bumps and lower speed limits in high traffic areas.

Although in the crash in Chinatown on Friday, speed may not have been a factor. A 76-year-old driver was trying to park his car when he drove onto the sidewalk and into a building, killing one pedestrian and injuring another.

District 3 Supervisor Danny Sauter said he is working with the city to implement no park zones at the intersection to increase pedestrian visibility within the next few days, but also said that the state needs to take action, too.

“We need to have more scrutiny at the DMV when we think about renewing licenses if this is an individual that has a record of dangerous driving," Sotter said. "We don't know if that's the case here, but there has been a number of high profile cases and certainly a trend where that is happening.”

Police said the incident is still under investigation but they don't think the driver was under the influence.

The crash comes after the widely-debated sentencing of 80-year-old Mary Fong Lau, who fatally struck a family of four when she was driving 70 miles per hour in San Francisco's West Portal neighborhood in 2024. She was sentenced to 200 hours of community service, two years of probation and a suspended license for three years.

Listen to the story at KQED: https://omny.fm/shows/kqed-segmented-audio/kqed-newscast-056d7480-c8dd-4da1-bb8d-7ae0a3a319a2