SFist: Motorcycle Muni Smash Up Scene

RinconHillSF

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 23:14:36 -0800

Thanks for the info - looking forward to the E Embarcadero on weekends to help get down to Mission Bay Branch Library, Mission Creek Park, Safeway and other neighborhood niceties that don't exist in Rincon Hil right now. The regular bus (running in the 'fast lane' northbound on The Embarcadero around 5pm yesterday) surprised me ... I thought I'd ridden the last northbound "E Embarcadero" historic streetcar to Fisherman's Wharf around 2pm - at least that's what the driver said to a lady sitting in a car just past the Harrison/Folsom Muni stop. (shrug) Glad that it ran for Sunday Streets!

Jamison

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:35:38 -0800

There is every intention of starting regular E-Embarcadero service some time in the future and as you probably saw, all the infrastructure is already in place for when it's time comes. You've probably seen it included in the SFMTA Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP) as part of the proposed "rapid network" but even if there were not a budget deficit at the moment and we have enough operators, we don't have enough operational historic streetcars to run both the F-Line and a new E-Line on a full time basis. Market Street Railway (I'm on the MSR board of directors in addition to the SFMTA citizens advisory council) has been working in partnership with Muni to find funding, both public and private, to acquire and restore more streetcars, but it's still a few years away at best. Two streetcars were dedicated to the E-Line for Sunday Streets so there shouldn't have seen any busses, but the accident delayed the F-Line by over 90 minutes which had to have an impact on the wharves segment where there's no alternative Muni Metro service underground. This was also only the third Sunday Streets ever and the first along this exact route which doesn't give you a lot in the way of past ridership to predict what demand will be like.

davitydave

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:47:09 -0800

For what it's worth, the vanity plates on the Scion read BEAR BX.

RinconHillSF

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:21:39 -0800

No more caffeinated drinks for F Market street car drivers ... waiting at Ferry Plaza for that rare E Embarcadero street car that was running especially for Sunday Streets yesterday to take me south to MoMo's to meet up with friends, I observed three F Market street cars either slam on their brakes or shove the gas down as they crossed the center crosswalk in front of the Ferry Building. As a funny aside, they kept running a bus that was supposedly a "E Embarcadero" later into the afternoon - who the heck knew the thing would be running at all, especially as a regular bus past the end time of Sunday Streets? I hope it is a sign that the E Embarcadero will begin regular operation at some point, but something tells me it was just a cake opportunity to book some more overtime

Jamison

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:18:55 -0800

SteveIst, at no point during this whole ordeal did the bike look anything remotely like it "rearranged with both of its wheels stacked on each other in a way that would not work if it were structurally sound." You can clearly see in the photos it was still intact and had only been moved a little from where it fell in order for the rescue workers to get the woman out and it stayed like that until the tow-truck arrived. SFHope, from your comment, what I can gather is that you were not there at the time of the accident, or it's immediate aftermath and you are making judgments about the behavior of the drivers based on nothing more than the post, photos and my own comment describing the accident. Is that correct? I think SteveIst is probably correct and the driver of the Scion made a defensive maneuver to avoid running into the motorcycle or the pedestrian (that would be me) who was in front of him in the crosswalk. And I'm saying "probably" because even as someone who was there and witnessed it, I didn't speak to the driver about the accident (the police requested us not to discuss it so we wouldn't confuse our individual accounts of the incident) and unless you were there and saw something I didn't, I think you should just shut the fuck up about something you don't know anything about. SFMTA also posts daily service delivery reports and the one for yesterday (including the accident) has been posted, but it is not a detailed account of what happened or the results of an investigation. The accident section is just a quick summary to account for what vehicles and personnel were involved, what actions were taken. It does state that a request to pull the video was made and that could shed more light on what happened.

SteveIst

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:43:58 -0800

The Scion was behind the motorcycle at a red light. With the streetcar coming on fast, the scion got scared and did a defensive maneuver but tried not to drive into cross traffic or pedestrians. The motorcycle driver was not as paranoid of being run down by muni, didn't see it coming, got mangled by the streetcar. When I came on the scene moments later, the ambulances were just pulling away and the motorcycle appeared to be rearranged with both of its wheels stacked on each other in a way that would not work if it were structurally sound. Just before coming on this accident, we had to drive around another one at Division & Guerrero, where a Honda Fit attempted to turn left onto Guerrero into the path of a Toyata Prius. The Prius was largely intact, the fit's whole right front region was rearranged. When the cop in front of me came on the scene, no drivers were in the cars or anywhere else nearby, and he zoomed off up the street to respond to the Market & Sanchez accident. In sum, it was a really twacky day to be driving in the Castro, and we parked the car and hied ourselves to an off-street bar without delay.

manys

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:41:55 -0800

Anybody care to translate these accounts into English? Many thanks.

SFHope

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:23:08 -0800

So, from the damage I can see and what I can gather from the intersection, the Scion was in the left turn lane, and the F was passing it to get into the stop? To me it looks like the Scion driver was bad at pulling all the way into the turn lane, and the F driver was bad at checking what was within the width of his vehicle. This happens to people all the time who park poorly on Carl St along the N (and to be honest I get a dark chuckle out of it -- I'd be damn careful about not parking in front of a train). Unfortunately in this case the car was not parked, and people almost died. =( Scion driver substantial fail for straddling lanes when a train is behind him. Muni driver BIGTIME fail at not paying attention enough to see Scion straddling lanes. Shitty day for the motorcycle riders through no fault of their own. I hope they get a payout from the Scion's insurance, and not just Muni.

Jamison

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 09:08:58 -0800

The streetcar rear-ended traffic which had stopped at the light. As I explained in my comment, the silver scion had already started moving when it was hit. The Scion avoided rear-ending the motorcycle, which had been ahead of it at the stop light. I was running for my life and didn't see if the scion made any contact with the motorcycle (they ended up side-by-side) before the streetcar rear-ended it. I didn't hear how bad her injuries were. I overhead a paramedic tell one of the officers she was lucky, and was just looking for any news on her condition and couldn't find anything.

withak

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:29:05 -0800

So the train rear-ended the stopped traffic?

Jag

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 07:47:37 -0800

How Bad was the lady hurt? Did anyone else get hurt and what happened to the driver?

Jamison

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 21:46:10 -0800

I didn't just come across it, I was crossing the intersection when it happened and was just a few feet in front of the motorcycle. I broke into a run before I even really knew what was happening. So here was the situation: Market Street had the red light, there were two women on that motorcycle and behind it was a silver Scion. I'd noticed the streetcar up the street (I always notice them being that I'm on the SFMTA advisory council and the Market Street Railway board of directors, 1811 has one of my favorite color schemes) but I was looking ahead of me as I was crossing the intersection and it happened so fast I only caught the accident itself out of my peripheral vision. I'd gotten about 10-12 feet before I looked back to see the motocycle going down and one of the women on it falling underneath the streetcar. I was terrified as I was seeing it happen that I was about to see someone loose life or limb under a streetcar. The streetcar came to a stop no more than a foot from where her legs were lying across the track. I've posted addition photos. Though the Scion had been stopped behind the motorcycle at the light, but the driver managed to pull far enough to the left that when the streetcar hit him, it didn't cause him to rear end the motorcycle. 911 didn't answer the phone for over a minute. I was shouting back and forth with two other people at the scene, asking each other if they'd picked up yet. Thankfully the firehouse is only half a block up Sanchez and when 911 finally did answer, they were on the scene in an instant.

polymergirl

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 19:53:41 -0800

Glad to hear that she is ok.

RinconHillSF

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:21:49 -0800

Dammit ... what bus line is going to get shut down or service reduced to pay this lawsuit?