A driver struck and killed a pedestrian and hit multiple vehicles in the parking lot outside Rainbow Grocery on Folsom Street this afternoon, San Francisco police said.
The pedestrian, whose identity has not yet been confirmed, was declared dead at the scene.
Officers responded to emergency calls about a collision in the Rainbow parking lot at 1745 Folsom St. around 2:50 p.m., said Public Information Officer Robert Rueca in a statement.
The driver is “obtaining medical attention,” Rueca said. He declined to comment on whether the driver was arrested, but said the driver remained on scene after the collision, and is cooperating with an ongoing investigation.
Police also noted that drug or alcohol impairment did not appear to have contributed to the crash.
The popular grocery cooperative is known for developing a queue of cars as drivers wait to enter the small parking lot on busy days. In a video obtained by Mission Local, a witness on the scene can be heard stating that the crash occurred after the driver of the vehicle drove around the line of cars.
“I saw him go around the other car and smashing into the other cars,” a man can be heard telling police. “Why he went around the line, I have no idea…”
The city’s Vision Zero initiative, adopted in 2014, aimed to bring the total number of traffic deaths to zero by 2024, next year. The city has thus far failed in its goal: This year, San Francisco recorded 21 fatalities from traffic collisions, in line with traffic deaths over the past decade. Last year was the deadliest year for such deaths in the city since 2014, at 39 killed.
The SFPD Traffic Collision Investigation Unit is leading an investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact the SFPD at 415-575-4444.
An eyewitness posted their account on Reddit. They said an elderly man in an SUV seemed to get impatient and go around the line of cars only to strike the pedestrian as they walked out of the store.
I’d favor banning cars from at least half the city. I never drive one here. All private autos bring is congestion, pollution and death. So very sad. 😔
Better yet, lets just ban you, Robert K. Regarding cars, drivers must slow down, and obey the law.
marijuana may bring congestion, pollution and death, and is also stinky. Let’s ban this noxious weed and less glorification of ganja.
It is very hard to understand how this could have happened. Cars pull into that lot very slowly and there is supposed to be a parking attendant on hand at all times to direct traffic. If drugs and alcohol don’t seem to be a factor, was the driver having a medical episode? Where was the parking attendant? Why hasn’t Rainbow issued a statement?
The driver may have been having a medical episode or may have just been impatient and reckless. The parking attendant could not have controlled either so not sure why the focus of responsibility is on them and not on the driver? I walk at least a couple miles every day in San Francisco and it’s not that hard to understand that there are impatient drivers.
He tried to slam the brake when he saw a pedestrian and accidentally slammed the gas pedal instead. That’s what happened.
I’ve been waiting to park at Rainbow and cars have zipped around me driving totally recklessly. It’s horrible. People act like psychopaths when they’re in cars. It’s so scary.
“A driver struck and killed a pedestrian and hit multiple vehicles near Rainbow Grocery on Folsom Street this afternoon…” does not quite mesh with the headline “SF driver kills pedestrian in Rainbow Grocery lot.”
I’m a subscriber to Mission Local and expect you to do better than this.
What do you think is wrong with the headline “SF driver kills pedestrian in Rainbow Grocery lot.”? How is that not accurate here?
Because it reads as if the driver is some kind of murderer when in reality this was an accident and we do not yet have the facts to assign blame to anyone.
Thanks, again, for your attention to the dangers of human-driven-cars (including, sadly, elderly drivers) in the neighborhood.
time for Rainbow to be sued for their awful parking situation.
What exactly do you think they should be sued for? They seem to be putting in a good effort to manage their very limited parking, and have someone in the main/indoor lot at all times directing drivers to spaces as they open up. I use the lot as a driver, a biker, and a pedestrian and it feels safe. (in fact I was there about an hour before the incident) It’s not great that cars line up along Division to enter the lot, but it’s at the cost of a few street parking spaces, not bike or traffic lanes. I can’t tell if you’re annoyed at a lack of parking or an excess?
Paulh is 100% correct–I too bicycle, occasionally drive or even walk over there and their efforts at traffic management are excellent. If anything I didn’t like how years ago The City took away so many parking spaces by a very popular store. (Yes as a bicyclist I agreed with taking away some / the protected bike lane, but can see how a few more can be returned instead of just the current four spaces on Folsom itself) . From what little I’ve read Rainbow is hardly at fault for this horrific incident
The Rainbow parking lot is very well run, with alert & helpful attendants.
Maybe the City of SF should be sued for their pathetic attempt at vision zero? Every intervention they’ve done is poorly thought out, and only implemented if it causes no interruption of car traffic and blames the pedestrian: Count-down crosswalk signals (check); speed limits (nope); speed bumps (nope); eliminate right/left turns with pedestrians in crosswalks (nope); remove right turn slip lanes (nope); narrow roads (nope); raised crosswalks (nope); pedestrian scramble traffic lights (nope). Even popular items like slow streets were implemented as more a luxury item to benefit the homeowners on those roads, than as a pedestrian transportation measure. So long as the infrastructure itself does not promote pedestrian safety, we’ll see over and over again of these tragic catastrophic results from split-second errors on the driver’s part.
Please read the article–all of it……especially the part “the driver of the vehicle drove around the line of cars.
“I saw him go around the other car and smashing into the other cars,” a man can be heard telling police. “Why he went around the line, I have no idea…”
Vision zero is a joke because the police were forbidden from enforcement on pedestrians and bicyclists and the efforts were only focused on vehicles. Also vision has nothing do with issues on private property like this business.
Well see, it’s the drivers who kill people. 🤷♂️
When was the last time an angry, impatient, or distracted pedestrian ran into a car in SF and somehow managed to kill the driver?
found the victim blaming car brained ignoramus. Want to tell that to the families of the 20 people who were killed by cars while walking in the city in 2022? Or would you feel more comfortable saying that to the families of the 18 people who were killed inside of a car in the city in 2022? I’d quote 2023’s traffic fatalities report but it hasn’t been published yet, though I’m certain the numbers aren’t any less grim.