Bicyclist seriously injured after colliding with train
By: Tamara Barak Aparton
Examiner Staff Writer
August 21, 2009
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| Detour: M-line service was disrupted for about 90 minutes after the collision. (Examiner File Photo) |
SAN FRANCISCO — A bicyclist was hospitalized with injuries described as serious after he collided with a Muni Metro light-rail vehicle in the Ingleside Heights neighborhood Thursday morning.
The victim, a man in his early to mid-20s, was unconscious when he was rushed by ambulance to San Francisco General Hospital, said Fire Department spokeswoman Lt. Mindy Talmadge.
Muni officials said the 10:33 a.m. collision occurred as the man rode downhill southbound on Arch Street toward Randolph Street. The cyclist struck the right side of an M-Ocean View train as it traveled westbound on Randolph Street through the intersection.
The intersection is controlled by stop signs at both Randolph and Arch streets, according to Municipal Transportation Agency spokesman Judson True.
Gil Brigham, an employee at the nearby Southwest Community Corp., said he walked outside and saw the bicyclist, who was clad in a red jacket, laying on the sidewalk. A bent bicycle was in the middle of the street, Brigham said.
The light-rail vehicle appeared to have been about one-third full of passengers and nearly through the intersection when the collision occurred, bringing the train to a stop, Brigham said.
The accident disrupted service on the M-line for around 90 minutes and Muni provided bus shuttles in both directions between St. Francis Circle and the terminal at San Jose and Geneva avenues until around noon, when regular service resumed.
“A lot of cars that had to run on the other side of the street got blocked, had to back up and find another way to get going,” Brigham said.
The Police Department and the transit agency are investigating the incident, according to True.
tbarak@sfexaminer.com
