Driver kills pedestrian as deadly stretch of Geary suffers another fatal crash

A driver struck and killed a 33-year-old male pedestrian Wednesday night in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood, police said.

The fatal crash occurred around 9 p.m. at the intersection of Geary Boulevard and Laguna Street. The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene of the collision.

Police said the driver stayed at the scene and cooperated with the investigation. Impairment caused by drugs or alcohol does not appear to be a factor of the collision at the current stage of investigation, said Officer Robert Rueca.

Previous crashes have taken lives at Geary and Laguna in the last several years, including the deaths of a motorcyclist in 2017 and a 7-year-old pedestrian in 2019, who suffered life-threatening injuries from the crash then later died of her injuries.

Last year, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency reduced the speed limit on portions of Geary from 35 mph to 25 mph, including between Laguna and Gough streets, due to the streets being near senior centers. The request was made by Supervisor Dean Preston and residents in the neighborhood following a fatal crash in August 2020 at Geary and Gough, one block west of Wednesday’s fatal crash.

Preston said on Facebook that his office is working with police for further additional information about the crash, adding:

Our deepest condolences to the victim, his friends and his family.”

Jerold Chinn

Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.