SFist: MUNI Bus Smacks Pedestrian On 24th Street Last Night

guest

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:45:42 -0800

That's good that the pedestrian will be ok. I think the person who commented above and said the pedestrian had died, may have been talking about an accident that occurred earlier this week. I had been waiting for the #48 along with several others on Tues. or Wed. night, after more than 30 mins. a young lady walking up 24th told us that someone had been hit, and that IF the bus was coming, it would be a while. I'm certain this was either 9/18 or 9/19. Hmm. Two accidents on the same line, in the same week!

fsharp

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 14:42:19 -0800

This is fred, who took the pictures. The person hurt was a middle-aged man. An officer told me that he was going to be OK and that he was just knocked down pretty hard. He did look ok to me when they picked him up so I'm not totally sure that the commenter above had the right accident when they say he died. He was moving and they didn't even put on the sirens. This was a west bound #48 Bus and they have a few hybrid buses on that line but I don't think this was one of them. They are gray. This was in the middle of the block. Not at a cross-walk. 24th st. during the day and early evening pretty much always has sirens, screeching tires and car alarms going off. You can't hear a thing, even those incredibly loud diesel buses.

suckafree

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 12:36:02 -0800

i bet the ped was wearing an ipod. how sad.

guest

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 23:27:55 -0800

On 24th, it is a free for all. There are double parkers all day. People jay walk anywhere. People don't bother to look left and right b4 crossing. They are busy on their Ipod, cellphone, wearing oversized LA glasses... Then you have the bus driver trying to make his schedule. Some run stops all day. At times distracted with what is going on in the bus. Many stressed out already and zone out while at the wheel. It is a recipe for disaster. Many buses are mounted with front digital cameras now. It does not lie. If available, it will show for all to see what happened. Fact: the diesel bus on that picture makes alot of noise. Anyone who knows MUNI will tell you that.

MistahHM

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 18:36:48 -0800

That is a big bummer. My heart goes out to the families and friends of both the injured (deceased?) and the bus driver. I doubt that the bus was silent. From the pictures, the bus that hit the ped was a DIESEL bus - the kind that is usually assigned to the 48. They are not quiet like the trolley buses and the hybrids. I live in that neighborhood and it is not just that drivers need to slow down. Peds and bicyclists are usually not paying much attention to stop signs or traffic signals. This is not a safe neighborhood, but usually the random and unsafe ped activity keeps the auto drivers on their toes. Ask the Department of Health - They'll tell you that more pedestrian/car accidents occur in the avenues and the richmond district. While I know the specifics of the neighborhood, I don't know the specifics of the incident. Maybe the bus driver fell asleep and ran the red at harrison, but from my experience, it is more likely that the ped was jaywalking. On a positive note, there was no relation to gang activity - It was just a big dumb accident. RIP anonymous pedestrian.

suckafree

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 17:59:33 -0800

an autograph seeker over hear at pac bell park told me he witnessed the whole thing. the ped died. he said the bus was silent and you can't hear it coming, kinda scary. thanks for the link rinconhill. someone ran a red light over here today and almost killed my daughter and nanny. i'll join today.

guest

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 15:19:30 -0800

This is fred, who took the pictures. The person hurt was a middle-aged man. An officer told me that he was going to be OK and that he was just knocked down pretty hard. He was partially under the the front of the bus when I got there. The driver of the bus seemed to be crying afterward. This was not at an intersection. It was in the middle of the block. I counted 1 ladder truck, 1 heavy rescue fire truck, 2 ambulances and at least 7 police cars. It was quite a scene.

guest

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 14:00:59 -0800

I bet said pedestrian was jaywalking. I'm just saying is all.

wondernat

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 13:11:02 -0800

does anyone know what happened to the pedestrian? was s/he ok?

RinconHillSF

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 12:34:24 -0800

In a related line of thought, please consider joining our City's pedestrian safety advocacy group - Walk San Francisco http://www.walksf.org