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UCSF Professor Dead, 3 Hurt In Shuttle Bus, Big-Rig Crash

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) -- A professor was killed and three others were hurt on Thursday when a University of California, San Francisco shuttle bus collided with a big-rig transporting cars in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood.

The crash occured at the intersection of Octavia Boulevard and Oak Street around 6:20 a.m., SFPD Lt. Troy Dangerfield said.

The big-rig was heading north on Octavia and the driver maintained he had a green light when his truck collided with the UCSF shuttle bus that was headed east on Oak while taking San Francisco General Hospital employees to work.

A man was ejected from the shuttle bus and died at the scene. The San Francisco coroner identified the victim to CBS 5 as 52-year old Kevin Mack, a UCSF associate professor and was a psychiatrist who had also worked at SF General.

Leslie Dubbin, General Hospital's director for clinical operations, described Mack to San Francisco Weekly as "a lovely, generous, kind soul. He will be sadly missed."

Two women and a man on the shuttle bus were also injured and hospitalized; officials said they ranged in age from 58 to 85 years old and were listed in fair or good condition.

Assistant Fire Chief Art Kenney estimated that there were about a dozen people in all on the shuttle at the time of the crash.

The driver of the big-rig, identified by his employer as Victor Shkoda, was not injured.

The big-rig was carrying several cars and suffered damage to the left front end. The front right side of the shuttle bus near the door was crushed inward and a side window was broken.

The cause of the crash was under investigation. But according to a dispatcher at Mag Transportation in South Carolina, Shkoda had called in to report he was "driving down the hill, I had the green light and from nowhere the bus came."

The dispatcher spoke to CBS 5 on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly for the employer about the accident.

KCBS' Margie Shafer Reports:

San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, whose district includes Hayes Valley, was at the scene of the accident after it occured. He called Octavia "a fabulous boulevard, but it has its challenges, especially for drivers who aren't familiar with San Francisco and rely on GPS."

Mirkarimi also brought up the issue of seat belts on shuttle buses, noting, "Quite clearly a seat belt could have potentially helped."

SFFD's Kenney said the UCSF shuttle did not have seat belts.

>> Check KCBS Traffic Conditions

Octavia Boulevard was shut down between Market and Fell streets after the crash, and didn't reopen until shortly after 11 a.m.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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