Killers of Bay Area Pedestrians Face Little Consequences

Zusha Elinson reports on the findings of an in-depth Center for Investigative Reporting review of the Bay Area's 434 pedestrian fatalities from 2007 through 2011. In the majority of fatal pedestrian crashes where a driver violation was at fault, no charges were filed. And in those minority of cases where charges were filed, "less than 60 percent had their driving privileges suspended or revoked for even one day, an automatic penalty in drunk driving arrests."

"Walkers are perhaps the most unprotected users of the transportation system," says Elinson. "The human body is no match for 3,000 pounds of speeding steel. Autopsy reports routinely describe blood-soaked clothing, fractured skulls, cracked ribs and broken limbs. In the Bay Area, minorities make up a majority of the dead, and the elderly are more likely to die walking than people from other age groups."

"Pedestrian advocacy organizations typically are small and underfunded, especially when compared with lobbies for automobile drivers or even bicyclists. For that and other reasons, laws protecting pedestrians have been watered down over the past century. So has the application of those laws."

"Families of the victims and advocates say that until there are more serious consequences for drivers who kill pedestrians, the deaths will continue."