An unidentified woman died late Sunday night after pick-up truck struck and killed her in Laurel Heights at Masonic and Euclid. The victim, heading west, was struck at around 5:30 p.m. as the vehicle was heading south on Masonic. According to the Chronicle, she was not using a crosswalk. more ›

New 49er Brandon Jacobs is caught up in a scandal involving New Jersey state troopers who escorted caravans of luxury cars at extraordinarily high speeds (100-120 mph). According to the Star-Ledger, the police "suspended two troopers without pay and reassigned a station commander as the investigation into an unauthorized, high-speed escort of sports cars to Atlantic City last month kicked into high gear." And the San Francisco running back was among those in the VIP escort. more ›

During a harrowing incident in San Leandro on Tuesday night, a woman driving with her mother became stuck on the train tracks after mistakenly assuming the tracks were a street. With an oncoming train heading their way, the daughter quickly jumped out of the vehicle. Attempts to pull her mother out of the car, however, proved futile. The train collided with the car and killed 56-year-old Pei Chuan Haung. more ›

Yet another person was stuck by a driver, this time in Mission Terrace. An unidentified female was critically injured after being struck by a vehicle in the city's Mission Terrace neighborhood last night. "A vehicle had just made a left turn from Italy Avenue onto Mission Street when it struck the 41-year-old woman, who had apparently stepped out from in between two parked cars in an area outside of the crosswalk," reports SF Appeal. more ›

Here's the briefest, most perfect palate cleanser for you this gray afternoon. It's a mere animated GIF in fact. Enjoy. more ›

A man was stuck and killed while walking across Lombard Street on Saturday. The Chronicle reports: "Thomas Ferguson, 45, was crossing midblock between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street around 8:45 p.m. when he was hit by the westbound car and pinned underneath it." more ›

David Murphy has a problem. It's not a big problem, but it's a problem. It's his license plate. A lot of people think that, after looking at it, he's a troll. Wrong! His license plate, which reads "TROLOLO," is actually in reference to Mr. Trololo, the onomatopoeic nickname of Eduard Khil, a Russian crooner turned internet meme. And Murphy, a tech writer in Silicon Valley, has a singing voice that resembles Khil's, which prompted his pals to give him the personalized plate for his birthday. Sweet, right? Well, not to the many rabid Reddit readers who foolishly mistook Murphy's plate as a proud proclamation of a trollism. more ›

The front page of the New York Times website right now is a story about San Francisco's new demand-based, variably priced parking system, which they claim is already making parking spots easier to find! What say you, dearest readers? Has this really already had the impact the Times is telling everyone it has? more ›

A multi-car crash on Highway 13 Thursday morning resulted in several car wrecks and the death of an 18-year-old Washington man. The tree crashed down onto southbound traffic near Park Boulevard in Oakland at around 4:20 a.m. more ›

UC Santa Cruz students and professors are taking part today in a massive protest to state education cuts. It's all part of peaceful Occupy Education rallies occurring at numerous UC and CSU schools, which will culminate in a statewide event at the Capitol on Monday. However, while blocking the front entrance of the Santa Cruz campus this morning, a car plowed through the group of protesters. more ›

Here's a big news flash that ought to blow some minds: According to a study conducted by researchers at UC Berkeley, people who drive expensive cars in the Bay Area are four times more likely to drive like complete jerks when compared to other, less flashy local motorists. As a car's sticker price increases from say, a Honda Civic to something like this fine German automobile, so does the likelihood that its driver will cut you off at a four-way stop or refuse to wait for a pedestrian in the crosswalk. more ›

At around 4 a.m. Sunday morning at the corner of Battery and California Streets, a hit-run incident occurred, one that resulted in a fatality. According to BCN (via SF Appeal), "Police were searching for a possible suspect in the collision this morning." more ›

A woman described as "heavyset" and naked except for her shoes was pulled off the J-Church line on Tuesday morning, and while cops and medical personnel were evaluating her near the intersection of 24th and Church in Noe Valley, she threw off a blanket that had been wrapped around her, walked up on the hood of one man's car, and stomped on his windshield. The man, John Knight, described the crazed woman as about 250 pounds, and he had a lot of explaining to do to his insurance company. more ›

During a routine traffic stop in Sonoma county on Tuesday, Robert Justin Vasseur, 22, was taken into custody after cops found him driving with a suspended license. Cops also found 49 homemade bombs inside his car upon further investigation. According to The Chronicle, a Sonoma County sheriff's deputy "found 49 handmade destructive devices, each bigger than a standard firecracker." Bomb experts working with the police also discovered materials used to make the bombs. more ›

At the corner of The Embarcadero and Lombard Street on Sunday night, a vehicle hit not one but two pedestrians. According to SF Appeal, "One of the two struck was in serious condition as of early this morning...[t]he other victim was in stable condition." Fortunately, the driver stayed at the scene and cooperated with authorities. more ›

A 47-year-old woman suffered life-threatening injures after being hit at Mission and 13th Streets on Monday. According to SF Appeal, "The truck left the scene afterward but was stopped in the city's Ingleside neighborhood a short time later, and its 54-year-old driver was taken into custody on suspicion of hit-and-run, according to [SFPD's Sgt. Daryl] Fong." more ›

(By D. Hanousek) As I switched on the gas to run down to Safeway (three short, but steep blocks away) to buy the required Italian-flavored breadcrumbs to make Cauliflower a la Basso's, I realized that I have a confession to make. I drive everywhere. more ›

In the latest New York vs. San Francisco pissing contest, noted New York startup wunderkind David Karp fired the first shot taking our fair city's choice of police patrol vehicles, "the most busted looking police cars." We happen to enjoy the understated, no-nonsense style of SFPD's Crown Victorias (really, there's no greater joy in this city than zipping down Gough Street in a Police Interceptor-turned-Taxi Cab). Thankfully for us, SFist pal (and current San Franciscan living in exile in NYC) Sexpigeon verbalizes our problem with NYPD's "insecure mess of an automobile." Observe: more ›

Commuters will not be able drive on the upper deck towards San Francisco during Presidents' Day Weekend due to construction. The closure will start at 8 p.m. Friday, February 17 and last through 5 a.m. Tuesday, February 21. What this means is that drivers won't be able to drive into San Francisco via the Bay Bridge. People can use a sundry of assorted options including BART, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, and the Dumbarton Bridge. Ferry service is another option. more ›

A little after 8 p.m. on Wednesday night, a four-door Toyota sedan hit a cyclist riding at 17th and Valencia streets. "The full extent of the bicyclist's injuries was not immediately known," reports BCN (via SF Examiner). "[T]he victim was in pain but conscious and talking when emergency crews took him to the hospital." more ›

The man who allegedly and intentionally mowed down a former Marine and Cal Fire firefighter was arrested on Wednesday morning. The suspect's name is Eduardo Shaparo Esquivel, 22, and he hails from South San Francisco. If you recall, Esquivel got into a physical altercation with Albert Bartal, 29, at a Jack in the Box at 11th Avenue and Geary Boulevard on Thanksgiving. more ›

Eastbound Geary Boulevard between 9th and 11th Avenues closed temporarily this morning after a vehicle-pedestrian collision. According to SF Appeal, "a 70 year old male was struck by a Toyota SUV at 10th Avenue and Geary at 7:56 AM. The victim was transported to SF General, and the driver, who stopped after the accident, remained at the scene." more ›

In San Jose, a suburban psychologist who bought a used Chrysler minivan for $14,000 in cash ended up driving around for 15 months with half a million dollars in Colombian marching powder unknowingly stashed in the panels of the vehicle. Dr. Charles Preston first noticed something fishy when he discovered the driver's side window wouldn't go down all the way, but as he told the San Jose Mercury News, "he figured he could live with it since the Town and Country van had an excellent air-conditioning system." more ›

Sing-song voiced Stanley Roberts met his match recently during a segment for KRON 4's addictive People Behaving Badly. Filming law enforcement ticketing titularly bad drivers, one sassy law breaker sporting an Elmo t-shirt goes off on Roberts, calling him a "fat, lazy, non-relevant, non-factor ass." Among other things. He also threatens to break the camera and suggests "1-800-GET-THIN, cubby butt." more ›

The following footage (via KTVU) shows a pedestrian being hit by car in downtown Oakland during the general strike. While, of course, the pedestrian could have moved and not slammed the hood of the driver's admittedly snazzy car--a point some of you might argue--it does appear that the driver intentionally plowed through the protesters. And, well, that's wrong. And bad. Very bad. more ›

Egads, people. A driver flying high on PCP last Friday ran into two pedestrians near City College. "Officers arriving at the scene of the crash in the 400 block of Geneva Avenue at 2:20 p.m. noticed the driver “could not sit still and appeared agitated and nervous," notes SF Examiner. "The officers called an ambulance for the suspect, who allegedly admitted taking the drug just before driving." more ›