Another driver jumped the curb and crashed into a building at Post and Taylor Streets near Union Square on Sunday. Cheryl Brinkman, who sits on the SFMTA Board of Directors, captured this photo of the aftermath and remarked: "I've been keeping a mental list of 'Things we can't trust car drivers not to do.' Add 'drive into buildings' to that list."
Drivers careen on to sidewalks more regularly than you might think -- often on high-speed streets in dense neighborhoods like the Tenderloin, which is criss-crossed by one-way "arterials." Two blocks away from the scene of yesterday's crash, a driver destroyed a Muni shelter at Sutter and Taylor Streets in June 2013.
Miraculously, it appears no one was injured in either of those crashes, but people are not always so fortunate.
It's not just a problem in the Tenderloin. Just two weeks ago, a driver smashed into Olea restaurant while making an illegal left turn at California and Larkin Streets. In September, another driver barreled into Comstock Saloon on Columbus Avenue in North Beach. According to ABC 7, that driver wasn't arrested for the crash, but was arrested for an outstanding warrant for drug possession.
It's typical for drivers to face no legal penalties for jumping curbs and destroying property, despite the threat to public safety and the costs they impose. They may be arrested or cited for driving under the influence, or for another violation that led to the crash, but driving into a restaurant or coffee shop in San Francisco is apparently not a crime.
Aaron was the editor of Streetsblog San Francisco from January 2012 until October 2015. He joined Streetsblog in 2010 after studying rhetoric and political communication at SF State University and spending a semester in Denmark.