Woman Killed on Ocean Avenue by Driver of SF Water Department Truck

Police investigate the scene where a woman was struck and killed by a PUC truck on Ocean Avenue today.

A city employee driving a Water Department truck struck and killed a
woman in a crosswalk on Ocean Avenue this afternoon, just minutes before
a Muni bus driver in another part of San Francisco struck a second
pedestrian.

The Water Department driver was turning left onto eastbound Ocean
Avenue from Miramar Avenue when he struck the victim, 63-year-old Xiu Fang Huang, who was attempting
to cross Ocean Avenue, said Tyrone Jue, a spokesperson for the San
Francisco Public Utilities Commission.

The San Francisco Police Department wasn’t able to confirm details of
the crash on Tuesday afternoon, but Khalil Judie, an eyewitness at the
scene, reported that the traffic light on Miramar was yellow when the driver
entered the intersection and began his turn.

Judie had just disembarked from the K-Ingleside streetcar when he
witnessed Huang struck and run over by the truck driver. “I ran up
to her right away, and she just lifted her head, looked up at us, and
dropped it,” he said.

More details of the crashes and photos after the break. Warning: some of the images are graphic.

The victim lies covered as police investigate.

Someone from the truck, either the driver or one of the two
passengers, immediately ran up to Huang and began praying,
evidently aware she was gravely injured, said Judie.

“I just keep imagining if that were my grandma,” said Judie.

The crash occurred at 1:38 p.m., and police were continuing to
investigate at the scene later this afternoon. Jue said police took the
driver away for further testing. His two passengers remained at the
scene.

“They had completed a job on Junipero Serra and Holloway replacing a
two-inch irrigation service line,” Jue explained. “They came over here,
took a short break, and then they were en route to the other part of the
city, over on Pacific Avenue to do a new installation of a water
service line.”

One woman who happened upon the scene after the crash occurred said
she wasn’t surprised someone was killed on Ocean Avenue. “Most the cars
that come through here, they want to bum rush you across the street,”
said Alice Smith, who walks along Ocean Avenue regularly. “If you’re
disabled, older, like I am, I can’t move that fast, and they get right
up on you, practically a foot away from you, to try and make you hurry
up and go across.”

The second crash occurred three minutes later when the driver of a
9-San Bruno bus hit a female pedestrian at San Bruno Avenue and Burrows
Street. The Appeal reports that the victim was in critical condition at
San Francisco General Hospital this afternoon.

“Per normal procedure, the Muni Operator (hired in 2000) involved in
the accident has been placed on non-driving status and will be tested
for drugs and alcohol,” said MTA spokesperson Judson True.

Both investigations were ongoing as of Tuesday afternoon.

The scene of a fatal pedestrian crash at Ocean Avenue and Miramar Avenue.

Police remove the victim’s body from the crash scene.

Police clean blood from the scene of a fatal crash at Ocean Avenue and Miramar Avenue.