Report Of Missing Safety Device In Fatal Collision With Bicyclist Prompts SF Muni Fleet Inspection
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – A collision on the morning of Friday, October 18, involving a San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency bus and elderly bicyclist, has prompted the transit agency to launch an inspection of its entire fleet of buses.
78-year-old Cheng Jin Lai died following the collision and now, Muni officials are trying to determine if a standard issue safety attachment, designed to protect pedestrians and bicyclists, was missing from the bus involved.
SF Muni Buses To Get Closer Inspection Following Fatal Collision With Cyclist
The attachment is called an S-1 Gard, and it is affixed to the outside of the right rear wheel well, like a bumper.
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Executive Director Ed Reiskin said after learning one may not have been in place on the bus that struck and killed Lai, he has ordered Muni's fleet of 800 buses to be checked thoroughly.
"It should be a standard issue on all Muni buses. That's a policy that Muni put into place, I think around 2007-2008," Resikin said. "It's not a regulatory requirement from any federal, state or local entity. But it's a practice that Muni has had."
Bicycling advocates met Wednesday morning at 14th and Folsom streets to ask people to tell Mayor Ed Lee to take action to stop deaths in the South of Market area.
"These are preventable accidents," said San Francisco Bicycle Coalition Deputy Director Kit Hodge. "We're saying more protected bike lanes, more clear space for biking. It's going to help everyone on the street and keep everyone safe."
Lai was the fourth bicyclist killed in the South of Market neighborhood so far this year.
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