A pedestrian hit by a driver making a left turn* on Friday morning has died. The driver, operating a Ford sedan adorned with the official San Francisco city and county seal, was reportedly turning from Seventh Street onto Market Street when he or she struck the woman in the crosswalk. The pedestrian, who was in a motorized wheelchair, was sent flying from her chair, reports the Chronicle, and a man with her who may have been pushing the wheelchair was possibly also struck notes Hoodline.
Hoodline further reports that the turn lane is "restricted to commercial vehicles, transit, taxis, and bikes only," and signage on Seventh confirms that, but in this case the city-owned vehicle counts as commercial.
The Chronicle reports that the pedestrian in the wheelchair was Thu Pham, a 38-year-old resident of Berkeley, and that she died over the weekend. The paper also says that police are attempting to get surveillance footage of the crash to determine whether Pham was in the crosswalk at the time of the crash, and that the driver cooperated and remained at the scene.
The driver was heading northbound on 7th Street before attempting the left turn.
Walk SF, a pedestrian advocacy non-profit, tells us that "cars hit at least three people walking" every day in San Francisco, and that "60 percent of all San Francisco’s traffic deaths are people walking."
Related: South Van Ness/Mission, Octavia/Market Considered Among Worst Intersections In The Country
* This post has been corrected to show that the driver's left turn, in this case, was legal.