Statistics clearly suggest that accidents involving pedestrians being hit by cars are almost twice as likely to happen in San Francisco as they would in New York City, even though NYC is obviously a much bigger and more densely populated city. The pedestrians in San Francisco cannot be blamed for being hit by cars so often, except for those instances when they completely disregard traffic laws and cross the street at wrong time and the wrong place.

However, there is one thing that pedestrians can do in SF to minimize the risk of being hit by a car when crossing the street lawfully - they should not be so confident that the cars that are approaching the intersection they are crossing will necessarily stop for the upcoming traffic stop or traffic light. As a pedestrian, you should still look at the car, try to make some kind of eye contact with the driver and make sure that it appears that the car is about to stop before you proceed to cross the street.  More and more drivers drive tired and distracted by texting and listening to music or books on their headphones. You simply cannot blindly trust that any driver will stop when they should. 

Pedestrian accident injuries results in some of the most serious and debilitating head injuries in San Francisco. Do your part to minimize the risk of being hit by a car when you cross the street, especially at night, or when it's foggy or raining on on weekend evenings, and quite a few people drive while intoxicated. 

Every person should know that if he is hit by a car when they cross the street not in the crosswalk, they will likely not be able to recover compensation for their injuries. The pedestrian law is clear - a pedestrian does not have the right of way when he or she crosses the road outside the crosswalk.  This is especially true if the driver has no way of seeing that a pedestrian is intending to cross the street up until right before hitting the person, as it would be in cases where the pedestrians pops out from between the parked cars.

Over the past few years I had to regretfully inform several people who had very serious injuries when they tried to run across the street but not in a crosswalk, that I simply couldn't help them beyond referring them to the good doctors.

On the other hand, the law is very protective of those pedestrians who proceed across the street through the crosswalk, giving absolute right of way to pedestrians. In cases where a pedestrian is hit while in a crosswalk, the driver will almost always be found liable for those injuries, regardless of why the driver couldn't see the pedestrian (i.e. time of the day, weather condition, etc.).

In one of our cases involving a pedestrian in Oakland, who was hit by a Caltrans vehicle when she was crossing a street in a residential area, the Department of Transportation accusing our client of staging the accident and jumping in front of the vehicle on purpose. The only reason that they make this outrageous accusation is because approximately one year before the accident, our client had suicidal thoughts which she reported to her doctor and as due to which she voluntarily subumitted herself to a crisis facility that helps people who are thinking about comitting suicide. 

The driver of the Caltrans vehicle, who hit our client,  admitted that she herself has no reason to believe that the victim staged the accident or jumped on purpose. Caltrans has no witnesses or any other evidence to support their claim that the accident was staged. I am anxious to see how this case will turn out. I have a feeling that this case will actually go to trial, as Caltrans appears to be known for insisting on their version of the events no matter what new evidence is presented to them. I am also disappointed to see that a government agency, which is supposed to be trying to do "the right thing" continues to deny liability in a situation where they should be compensation my client for her injuries and damages, instead of continuing to fight this case.