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Emily Watson Memorial Vigil
WHAT: Community memorial for 29-year-old Emily Watson, who was killed by a shuttle driver.
WHEN: Wednesday December 6, 2023, 4:00pm.
WHERE: Intersection of Terrace Street and Sutherland Drive, where the crash occurred.
WHO: Road safety advocates from Complete Streets at Pitt, Bike Pittsburgh, friends, and
community members.
WHY: Traffic deaths are a leading cause of preventable deaths, disproportionately harming
people who are walking and biking, people of color, and people in low-income
communities. In Pittsburgh, we are demanding that the City formally adopts Vision Zero
as an official City policy and institute a Safe System Approach to planning, design, and
engineering streets to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries in the City of
Pittsburgh by 2035.
VISUALS: Community gathering and leaving flowers, speaking on how the city, university, and
UPMC can work to better protect those outside as well as inside motor vehicles.
The community will gather for a memorial remembering 29-year-old
Emily Watson, UPMC employee and Pittsburgh resident, on Wednesday, December 6 at
4:00pm. A UPMC shuttle driver hit and killed Emily this past Wednesday, November 29, while
she was walking at Terrace Street and Sutherland Drive.
During the gathering, the community and organizers from the student-led bike and pedestrian
advocacy group, Complete Streets at Pitt, will remember and honor the life of Emily and all
those killed in acts of traffic violence, especially members of the Oakland community. Two
people have been hit and killed walking in this location over the past three years: Emily Watson
just recently, and Pitt student Barbara Como in March 2020 on DeSoto Street.
“The recent crash and pedestrian fatality could have and should have been avoided. For this
reason, we must do better to protect our communities, and we will continue to advocate for
increased safety conditions for those on our streets. This tragedy must not be repeated again,
and we believe the city of Pittsburgh must commit to a Vision Zero policy of zero traffic
fatalities,” said Neil Cahill, Communication Chair of Complete Streets at Pitt.
Media and all members of the public, the University of Pittsburgh, and UPMC, are invited to
attend the memorial next Wednesday, December 6, 2023 at 4:00pm.
