An SUV collided into the front of a 14R bus at 21st and Mission streets on Tuesday afternoon.
The collision produced an audible bang and elicited shouts from people on the street. Mission Local’s managing editor Joe Eskenazi witnessed the crash across the street from the newsroom.
Only the vehicles were harmed. The bus was scratched by its front right wheel, and the metal over the SUV’s front right tire was dented.
Observers said a car driving south pulled into the bus lane. To illustrate the collision he’d seen, one witness simply made a fist with one hand and smacked it into his open palm.
The SUV’s young driver said she was pulling out of a parking spot when she saw the bus moving toward her, and had nowhere to go.
But the veteran Muni driver said she struck his bus while making a U-Turn out of a parking spot. A man parked beside the bus said he also watched the SUV turn into the bus lane.
No passengers were hurt, and the Muni driver remained affable: “It happens,” he said. His advice: “Take public transportation. Don’t drive.”
Muni drivers are excellent and courteous and you almost never hear about them causing an accident.
You forget a sarc tag?
But was the SUV wearing a helmet?
Drivers regularly try to gain the advantage by illegally riding the red-carpet lane on Mission without making a right turn off of it. I expect that these types of accidents will become commonplace as the mayor opens Market Street to every Tom, Dick, Jane, and android giving “taxi” rides to the public.
You didn’t get a quote from Joe? 😱
I couldn’t imagine a harder job than being a Muni driver. Watch them sometime. Dealing with some difficult riders, managing the fare box and keeping a cool head with all the crazy traffic. What a potential horrorshow!
Have been on 100’s of rides with zero accidents. WOW!