SAN FRANCISCO—On Saturday morning on October 4, 2025, at 2:10 am, at Cortland Avenue and Anderson Street, according to nearby business street-facing video camera footage, a speeding silver sedan collided at Cortland Avenue with 30-year-old Nepali male pedestrian, Binod Budhathoki, who just came back to San Francisco from celebrating Dashain festival, a Hindu religious festival.
The driver of the sedan did not stop although police officers had been searching the area for both the vehicle and the driver. He was taken to a local San Francisco hospital, where he later succumbed to his fatal injuries, leaving behind an eight-year-old daughter. After the driver hit Budhathoki, there was a ‘thudding’ impact.
The Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) and medical staff were at the scene where the accident occurred. San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) are reaching out to anyone, including people with surveillance footage, to please notify the SFPD. A GoFundMe page has been set up for Budhathoki by Non-Resident Nepali Association, supporting the victim’s family.
According to Bernal Safe Streets, a group who advocates for street safety improvements in Bernal Heights, Cortland Avenue is in one of San Francisco’s ‘high injury network,’ which means it has the most deaths and injuries of all the neighborhoods in San Francisco.
In 2014, San Francisco had committed to ‘Vision Zero,’ a way to eliminate pedestrian deaths, which had tremendously failed. Although the speed limit on Cortland Avenue is only 20 mph, people still speed through stop signs right and left. It is a direct route from Mission Street to Bayshore Boulevard, causing drivers to speed. The visibility at the intersections is poor, and drivers sometimes park at the red zones near corners, blocking drivers’ view of pedestrians on sidewalks. Bernal Safe Streets would like to plant planters or some kind of physical barriers to keep the areas clear.
In light of Budhathoki’s death, responding to Bernal Safe Streets, on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, at 5:30 pm, District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder, San Francisco Police Department (SFPD), San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) will have a town hall at Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center.
Anyone with information on the hit-and-run, please contact San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) at (415) 575-4444 or Text-A-Tip to TIP411, beginning the message with ‘SFPD.’
Binod Budhathoki’s GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-loving-memory-of-binod-budhathoki-support-for-family
