A San Francisco resident is organizing what could become a significant grassroots push for tougher reckless driving convictions after a gut-wrenching encounter at a party: meeting a man who had just lost his 37-year-old wife to a hit-and-run driver on Sunset Boulevard. She was gone. The driver fled. And if California's track record is any indication, even if the driver is caught, the consequences will be shockingly lenient.

This isn't an isolated tragedy. Multiple children have been killed on SF streets this year. An entire family was wiped out at West Portal. Elderly pedestrians struck down in crosswalks. The body count keeps climbing, and the system responds with what can only be described as a shrug — low bail, watered-down charges, and convictions that amount to a slap on the wrist for taking a life.

Here's the thing that should infuriate every fiscally conservative, liberty-minded person reading this: the single most fundamental role of government is protecting its citizens' right to life and safety. That's not big government overreach. That's the bare minimum. And California is failing at it spectacularly.

Since the pandemic, reckless driving incidents have surged statewide. Speed has gone up, enforcement has gone down, and progressive prosecution policies have made vehicular manslaughter one of the least consequential ways to kill someone in the state. You'll get a harsher sentence for tax fraud than for running someone over and fleeing the scene. Let that sink in.

The organizer — who admits to having zero protest experience — has already lined up prominent guest speakers and is planning a demonstration at City Hall. That's exactly the kind of citizen-led accountability this city needs more of. Not waiting for a supervisor to form a committee that produces a report that gets filed in a drawer. Direct pressure on lawmakers to fix laws that are clearly broken.

If you're interested in getting involved, this is the kind of cause that transcends political tribes. Nobody — left, right, or center — thinks drivers should be able to kill pedestrians and walk away with minimal consequences. The question is whether enough San Franciscans will actually show up and demand change, or whether we'll do what we always do: post about it, mourn for a week, and move on until the next person dies.

We're betting on the former this time. City Hall lawn. Stay tuned.