Zeitgeist Bartender Killed In Crash

In October 2023, a driver nearly killed me. The scene of my death would’ve been O’Farrell and Divisadero Streets. I was 33 years old, an aspiring professor, and I was in love. My friends from work were expecting me. I crossed O’Farrell heading south on Divisadero maybe an hour after sunset. The way was clear. The truck heading north on Divisadero at the time didn’t signal that he was about to turn. Had I been one step further, you wouldn’t be reading this article. 

Zeitgeist mourns a tragic loss

A beloved bartender at Zeitgeist is among the latest fatalities to emerge from the city’s hostile driver epidemic. The collision occurred before dawn, near Geary and Divisadero Streets around 6:45 Friday morning. EMS pronounced the man dead on-site. The victim, first-name identified as Chase, was allegedly on foot, on his way to Kaiser Permanente.

KRON 4 caught footage of the site after daybreak. The incident occurred on the downhill side of Geary towards downtown, opposite Broderick Street. His jeans lay in the middle of the road, belt still attached, keyring crushed. A tattered shirt lay nearby, and a lone shoe sat sole-up amongst shards of metal debris.

Footage also shows three Waymo vehicles stopped at the scene of the crash. The automated car service says they were not involved in Friday morning’s fatality and arrived on the scene after the fact.  

Zeitgeist closed its doors this weekend in memoriam and will reopen on Monday. On Saturday, a friend left some flowers at their doorstep. 

Why are so many pedestrians dying?

San Francisco has already seen more pedestrian fatalities this year than in 2023. Drivers killed eighteen people last year (KPIX). So far, 21 more have died. There are nine weeks left in 2024. 

Last Tuesday morning in Cole Valley, a dump truck driver ran over a 70-year-old man who was crossing Stanyan at Parnassus. He died at the scene. EMS workers erected a white tent over the site where the accident occurred. SFPD questioned the driver, who stayed with the victim and was not intoxicated.

Another driver hit a cyclist Thursday night at Beach and Taylor Streets near Fisherman’s Wharf, throwing her from her bike. The driver ditched the vehicle on-site and jumped into the passenger side of another vehicle that promptly sped away. A witness found one of the victim’s teeth in the roadway. Paramedics took her to SF General. Police said her injuries were “not life-threatening.” 

Someone else then jumped into the car that struck the cyclist and drove off, crushing the bicycle under its wheels. SFPD pursued that vehicle until its driver veered into the bike lane, jumped the curb, and crashed into Hillstone restaurant. The car tore up the lawn in front of the business at the corner of Montgomery and the Embarcadero, coming to a stop inches from a window where a couple was sitting. 

By the numbers: San Francisco’s pedestrian mortality (per WalkSF)

• “Every day, at least 3 people walking get hit by cars on average in San Francisco. This is more than any other city in the state. Yes, many people walk here, but that doesn’t mean that more people should be injured. Over 50% of the people killed in traffic crashes in the city are pedestrians; the national average for pedestrians killed in traffic violence is only 14%.”
• “Of all severe and fatal crashes in San Francisco, 68% happen on only 12% of our streets. These streets, our city’s most dangerous, are high-injury corridors (see a map of the high-injury network).”
• “Seniors make up just 15% of the population but make up 50% of pedestrian fatalities each year in San Francisco. People with disabilities face additional risks as well.”
• “Speed is the leading factor for serious injury and death in San Francisco. A person hit by a vehicle traveling 25 MPH has a 25% chance of a life-threatening or fatal injury; at 40 MPH this goes up to 75%.”
• “Crashes and collisions are not ‘accidents.’ Crashes are not random acts; they are preventable. They are the result of dangerous street designs and/or dangerous traffic behaviors, and most importantly, they are predictable and preventable.”