The driver who ran over a woman in a crosswalk at Pine and Front Streets in the Financial District last Thursday will not receive a citation despite being found at fault, the SFPD told Streetsblog.
Police confirmed that the victim had the walk signal as she made her way through the west crosswalk along Front at 11:55 a.m., walking south, when the driver hit her as he made a left turn from northbound Front to westbound Pine. An officer said the woman's injuries were not life-threatening, and the driver will not be cited. The officer would not say why.
"If a driver not only fails to yield at the crosswalk but also hits and hurts someone, it's pretty clear: there should be a penalty," said Walk SF Executive Director Elizabeth Stampe, who noted that the SFPD recently "issued a statement committing to more frequent and visible enforcement of the laws that protect people on foot."
"We expect the police to keep our streets safe; we expect to see them enforcing the laws that protect us," she added. This is far from the first time the SFPD hasn't cited a driver despite clear evidence. SFPD only cited a driver who was videotaped running over a man in a crosswalk in the Tenderloin after an outcry from pedestrian advocates.
Police wouldn't disclose any information about the driver or the victim in yesterday's crash, but a photo from Streetsblog reader Patrick Carroll shows an officer speaking with a man who appears to be in his late teens and the black Ford Mustang Carroll said he appeared to have been driving. Carroll noted that drivers often speed through the turn onto Pine to make the green light. Two turn lanes from Front Street funnel traffic over the crosswalk where the victim was struck.
