Transportation

Pedestrian Seriously Injured In Vehicle Collision On Ocean Avenue

A collision at the intersection of Ocean Avenue and Harold Street on Jan. 2 hospitalized a 64-year-old man with life-threatening injuries.

Alex Mullaney Jan 6, 2020

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'A 64-year-old male was transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries after he was in a collision with a vehicle at the intersection of Ocean Avenue and Harold Street on the morning of Thursday, Jan. 2.

“As of Friday Jan. 3, he remains in life-threatening condition,” San Francisco Police Department spokesperson Adam Lobsinger wrote in an email. “The driver of the vehicle remained on scene and is cooperating with investigators.”

The SFPD Traffic Collision Investigation Unit inquiry into the incident is ongoing, according to Lobsinger.

The intersection has been the site of a recent and notable pedestrian-vehicle collision before.

In 2017, a writer with the transit advocacy publication SF Streets Blog witnessed a similar incident in which a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle while crossing Ocean Avenue.

Despite the frequent pedestrian crossings at this highly-trafficked intersection, there is no crosswalk connecting Harold to the City College Terminal. This is likely due to the K Ingleside boarding island blocking the way and the speed at which vehicle traffic travels.

The Ocean Avenue and Harold Street intersection where the Jan. 2 collision occurred had formerly been in the Vision Zero High-Injury Corridor Network, stretches of roadway where more than 70% of severe and fatal traffic injuries occur. In 2017, when the network was last updated, most of Ocean Avenue, save for a section from Frida Kahlo Way to Cayuga Avenue, was removed.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s Ocean Avenue Safety Project, which began in spring 2018, aims to improve “safety, accessibility, and comfort for people traveling on Ocean Avenue between Geneva Avenue/Frida Kahlo Way (Phelan Avenue) and San Jose Avenue,” according to the project’s webpage. Its improvements, which may serve the Harold-Ocean intersection, range from near-term paint and posts to larger infrastructure changes requiring changes to the right-of-way.