Advocates seek safer Muni rail crossings and traffic changes as debate continues over Market Street access and downtown road safety.

Aug 13, 2026

Updated 4:45 pm PT

A person with an umbrella crosses Market Street in San Francisco on Nov. 20, 2024. For nearly five years, cars could not drive down Market Street following advocacy from groups like the Bicycle Coalition.  (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

Advocates for safer streets are renewing calls for changes along San Francisco’s Market Street after a 32-year-old woman was struck and killed while riding an electric scooter last week, saying the fatal crash highlights longstanding safety concerns along the busy corridor. 

Yebin Kim, a San Francisco resident, was riding near Powell and Market streets downtown when she was struck by a commercial truck, San Francisco police said. At 8:18 a.m., officers found Kim in the street with life-threatening injuries. Medics attempted to save her, but ultimately pronounced her dead at the scene, police said. 

Both the vehicle and the driver have been located, but the police said they are not providing additional comment at this time due to an open and active investigation. 

Cars drive down Market Street in San Francisco on Jan. 20, 2022.

Claire Amable, spokesperson for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, said Kim’s death is the second crash this summer involving a wheel stuck in a Muni rail.

The group is holding a vigil to honor Kim at 4:30 p.m. on Friday at the intersection where she died. They’re also calling for changes along the busy stretch — including shifting transit stops to center lanes so that they mix less with bikes and scooters, installing strips of rubber that make it harder for wheels to get stuck along rail crossings and making Market Street completely car-free again.

“We’re in a place where people aren’t feeling as safe as they once did on Market Street,” Amable said. 

“The tragedy on Market Street is heartbreaking, and my condolences go out to Yebin’s family and friends,” Lurie said. “As the city investigates the incident on Market Street, we will continue to move the work forward to create safer streets for all San Franciscans.”

Amable invited anyone who is concerned about “wrongful deaths on our streets, to come and to just be in community” at Friday’s vigil.