The San Francisco Chronicle reports that more than 800 people are hit by cars in San Francisco each year, making it one of the most dangerous in both the state and possibly the country for pedestrians.

The streets are especially dangerous in December, with shorter days, more holiday foot traffic, increased alcohol use and winter weather cited as some of the main problems.

This comes a year after San Francisco was named the best walking city in the country by the American Pediatric Medical Association and Prevention magazine.

A report looking at traffic fatalities that was released in August by the New York Department of Transportation found that San Francisco fares worse than other larger cities, such as New York, London, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

“There’s a federal goal for zero airplane fatalities and a federal goal for zero railroad fatalities,” Dr. Rajiv Bhatia, director of occupational and environmental health for the San Francisco Department of Public Health told the Chronicle. “Yet we have these acceptable levels of people getting hit by cars and killed.”

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority released a report in October that found the number of such fatalities had consistently declined, although there were still a higher percentage of these deaths than in other major cities. It also found that the primary causes of the accidents was motorists who failed to yield or were inattentive.

The top 10 most dangerous spots of San Francisco for walkers includes parts of the Financial District and Tenderloin and the South of Market and Bayview neighborhoods.

For the entire San Francisco Chronicle article, click here.

Photo Credit: Keith Mizuguchi

• Tag: accidents, fatalities, pedestrians, San Francisco, walking