Carnage

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” ― Upton Sinclair

"We're alarmed by the increase in bike riders killed in traffic violence so far this year," said Transportation Alternatives.

There have been three disturbing cases in SF within the last month in which drivers assaulted people walking and biking. Such cases are usually rare, but all of the attacks occurred on streets designed for fast driving.

SFPD said a ticket will be issued to a driver who hit a woman last Wednesday while backing up on 16th Street near Pond Street, next to the Eureka Valley Branch Library. In initial reports, police said the driver had not been cited:

Priscila "Precy" Moreto, a 67-year-old employee in the City Controller's Office, was run over and killed by a tour trolley driver within a wide, clearly-marked mid-block crosswalk on Polk Street, leading to the steps of City Hall, at about 11:30 a.m. yesterday.

Another life has been taken on Sloat Boulevard -- the deadly, too-wide street slicing through SF's southwestern Parkside and Sunset Districts past the San Francisco Zoo. Louis Van Velzen, an 87-year-old father, was killed by a driver while crossing Sloat at 43rd Avenue at 7:00 a.m. this morning, the SF Chronicle reported. Van Velzen was reportedly trying to catch a bus when he was hit:

SF police have arrested 25-year-old Lorysha Gage for leaving two-year-old Mi'yana Gregory in the downtown crosswalk where she was run over and killed last Friday night. Even as police seek the driver who struck Gregory and fled the scene, Gage is set to be arraigned tomorrow on charges of "felony child endangerment, with an enhancement allegation for causing death."

Sometimes, internal combustion can become spontaneous combustion.

Updated 8:07 p.m. The SFPD issued this statement: