2 pedestrian fatalities in 24 hours in San Francisco
The first accident occurred on Thursday, Dec. 19, in Chinatown. An elderly woman had pulled up to an open spot on Jackson Street. While she was attempting to park the car, she suddenly accelerated. The news report did not say what caused her to accelerate, but when she did, she struck two pedestrians and collided with another car and a utility pole. One of the pedestrians was killed in this case.
The investigation for that fatal pedestrian accident had barely gotten underway before San Francisco responders were called to the scene of a second one. This second accident involved a Recology garbage truck traveling on a route in Tenderloin.
The second accident occurred the next morning, on Friday, Dec. 20, when a man had crossed Jones Street behind the garbage truck. At this exact moment, the truck started backing up, colliding with the pedestrian. The man did not survive the injuries suffered in this incident.
Friday’s pedestrian accident wasn’t the first involving a Recology truck in San Francisco. A young girl and her grandmother had been walking across the Embarcadero in March when a garbage truck traveled past, crushing her foot. Then, in May, a cyclist became the victim of a fatal Recology truck accident.
Recology released a statement to the public, sending its condolences to the family of the victim that was killed in the latest accident. The company also said that it would investigate the incident to determine if the company needs to make some changes for the future.
Even if a company takes every possible step to ensure that no more injuries are caused, subsequent remediation does not eliminate liability from injuries that have already occurred.