San Francisco Cable Car Accident Injures Seven People
February 11th, 2013
| February 11, 2013 Seven people were injured last week in a cable car accident in San Francisco, California. According to the Mercury News, the incident occurred at approximately 10:15 a.m. Wednesday near the intersection of Powell and Washington Streets. John Haley, Director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, stated the cable car was traveling along Powell when it suddenly came into contact with a six-inch bolt that had become lodged in the tracks. Contact with the foreign object caused the car to stop immediately and lurch forward, leading to several passengers suffering injuries. One of the most serious injuries involved an elderly man who struck his head and may have suffered a minor brain injury. All the victims were taken to a local trauma center to receive full examinations and treatment to their injuries. In the meantime, investigators began to look into the cause of the accident and determined the bolt had come loose from a sensor plate attached to the tracks and the sensors in the tracks had failed to identify the stuck bolt. Maintenance will now be performed on the bolts weekly to prevent a similar incident. The California Injury Lawyers with the law firm of Berg Injury Lawyers acknowledge that negligent maintenance can cause a serious accident and suggest that anyone injured in an accident that was not their fault to talk about their legal options and rights with an attorney.