Man in Wheelchair Killed in SF at Dangerous Intersection

A man in a wheelchair was fatally struck early Monday in San Francisco at a historically dangerous intersection.

The man, possibly in his 20s, died shortly after midnight at San Francisco General Hospital. He had been in a wheelchair at the corner of Market  and Octavia streets in the Hayes Valley neighborhood.

A police sergeant at the scene said they found the wheelchair several feet up on the ramp off the freeway, and the man had been knocked off his chair.

The driver remained at the scene and is cooperating with officers. He was dressed in a security guard uniform and declined an interview with NBC Bay Area.

A 2010-2011 traffic collision report released last year showed 13 injury collisions occurred at Market and Octavia in 2011, the most injury collisions at any San Francisco intersection in 2011. Nine of those collisions involved cars and bicyclists.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency said the automated photo enforcement system will be turned on Nov. 1 in the eastbound part of the intersection.

For the first 30 days of enforcement, right-turning drivers caught on camera will receive a warning notice for the making the illegal right turn. Starting Dec. 1, offenders will be fined $238 and a point will be added to their driver’s license.

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