A pedestrian who was struck by a vehicle while in a crosswalk near the Panhandle in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood this morning suffered critical injuries, a fire department spokeswoman said.
The male victim was struck by a vehicle around 9:45 a.m. while crossing the street at the intersection of Masonic Avenue and Oak Street, according to fire spokeswoman Jen Balestrieri.
Balestrieri said the pedestrian was transported to the hospital via ambulance in critical condition.
The driver of the vehicle remained at the scene, Balestrieri said.
Josselyn Eccleston, a nearby resident who frequently uses the crosswalk, said she was driving through the intersection this morning when she saw a crowd of people around a man on the ground.
Eccleston said she saw people out of their cars and then saw the runner in his running shorts, face down on the ground, not moving.
She said she hopes the runner is okay.
“That intersection is awful,” Eccleston said. “I have two small kiddos and I’m so scared crossing it. People are super aggressive or just don’t look.”
Following the collision, nearby residents took to Nextdoor.com, a private online social network for neighborhoods, and aired their frustrations with the intersection.
Neighbors said it is a popular intersection for runners because of the proximity to Golden Gate Park, but that pedestrians in the crosswalk are at the mercy of vehicles turning from Oak Street left onto northbound Masonic Avenue.
Haight-Ashbury neighbors on Nextdoor said they wanted to see left-turning traffic from Oak to Masonic be given a red arrow, instead of merely being required to yield if pedestrians are in the crosswalk.
Hannah Albarazi, Bay City News
