February 15, 2008
Vespa Rider Seriously Injured After South Van Ness Accident
At first, before reading this story, we were ready to shake our finger at the Vespa rider in question. Lord knows we worry about you kids. But it seems she wasn't at fault. You see, last night a 24-year-old San Francisco woman was put in the hospital with life-threatening injuries while riding a Vespa on South Van Ness Avenue. It seems that "a 1994 Honda Accord, which was traveling southbound, tried to make a left turn onto 21st Street and struck the Vespa...The Accord then struck two other cars on 21st Street, Mannina said. One of those cars was pushed backward into a fifth car," according to CBS 5.
The 21-year-old Honda driver, who was "arrested on a misdemeanor charge of driving on a suspended license and also an infraction, failure to yield the right-of-way while making a turn," was cited and sent on his way.
Of course, we hope the driver of the nifty scooter is doing better. (If you strip away its hipster stigma, the Vespa really is one adorable vehicle, which would be ideal for many San Franciscans. That is, if it weren't for all of those dangerous cars zooming by.) Stay safe, y'all.
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Clearly, the Vespa-riding woman is at fault for not having an awesome car-equipped boyfriend to escort her around on V-Day.
Get well/stay alive, lonely Vespa Rider.
Motorcyclist get killed this way all the time and people always say "i didn't see them" so what!
just cause you are on your cell phone etc doesn't make it okay. I hope someting more happens to this driver. Most get off with a small fine :(
Motorcyclist get killed this way all the time and people always say "i didn't see them" so what!
just cause you are on your cell phone etc doesn't make it okay. I hope someting more happens to this driver. Most get off with a small fine :(
It could've been worse. She could've gotten in the way of a bicyclist.
That's a low blow pepelicious -- everyone knows that bicyclists and vespa riders are both a part of the two wheel fraternity. Get well, lonely rider. GET WELL!!!
Since there is no blind spot when making a left turn at 9am on a sunny day, this is clear negligence.
With a motorcyclist involved, injuries occur instead of bent fenders. "I didn't see her" translates to "it was an accident". This CRIMINAL didn't even have a valid license and gets only a misdemeanor arrest?
I hope for the day when the fines and jail time for killing and injuring motorcyclists and bicyclists through negligent (and just generally selfish) driving will rival those for drunk driving... without the need for alcohol to be involved.
In the meantime, the 2 wheeled crowd will continue to do double-duty... watching our for our own driving as well as the driving of our 4 wheeled road-buddies.
Yep. I hope she gets better, but bikers and vespa riders who are mowed down by cars can't say they didn't see it coming. As much as biking and vespas are cool, riding a tiny two-wheeled vehicle with almost no protection while sharing the road with two-ton behemots operated by inattentive and often plain stupid drivers is a bad idea. I love biking but now that I'm in my 30's, I'm not crazy enough to do it anymore on SF's streets. It's safer in BART's and Muni's bowels, though it is also stinkier.
"Cited and sent on his way."
Of course. Driving a car is the one way to murder someone and get away with it. Society is fucked up.
As a vespa rider myself who has had many close calls with not-paying-attention-morons (One of whom hit me, resulting in an insurance payout that bought me the sweet, SWEET ride I have now), I hope the rider is okay.
And by the way, underachiever, I have a man. But I hardly need him to "escort me around" in a car. I'm going to assume your post was a joke.
Hey, everyone. I just found the article and commentary. The Vespa rider is my fiance - she was on her way to class, from whence I was planning to whisk her away (by car - no offense taken, previous poster) for a Valentine's day picnic. She's in stable condition now, recovering from two nasty broken wrists and internal injuries which could have been bad but resolved fairly quickly. Head and back are OK (but sore). Recovery will take a while.
Regarding the driver: cited and released, my ass. Most of us have been in accidents, and even made mistakes and caused accidents. It happens. But most of us don't get our licenses suspended, keep causing accidents, and nearly kill a fantastic woman. I'm going to do my best to work through the legal system to ensure he receives more than a fine.
Stay safe, riders.
Get over it. Friggin Hipsters..I swear...and Brock, your writing sucks
lol pepelicious. So true... so true.
gs_rider, I am glad to hear your girl is ok. I am also happy to hear you plan to pursue action against the driver. Too often people think the "system" properly punish the guilty parties. Doesn't happen.
Contact the San Francisco Pretrial Diversion Program (567 7th Street, San Francisco CA 94103) and you can likely file a monetary claim (at least for the damage to the scooter, maybe for medical) against the driver. That claim will be attached to any fines she receives in her hearing.
I filed a claim against a hit and run DUI driver who was caught and I ended up getting the money for the damage to my vehicle. Having the claim attached also shows the court that this wasn't a victimless crime.
Good luck
CacoBird, would you feel differently if the rider was on a Harley? Idiot.
Its ashame this happened, i've had to train myself to be more aware of other drivers than on the road when driving my Vespa.
Terry @ Vespas For Sale