SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) — San Francisco supervisor Norman Yee announced Tuesday he is calling for a hearing to review tour bus safety regulations and enforcement less than two weeks after a man was killed when a tour bus struck him as he crossed the street in the city’s Lower Pacific Heights neighborhood.
The hearing request is calling on the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, the San Francisco Police Department, the California Public Utilities Commission and the California Highway Patrol to present existing regulations and proposed solutions that would increase safety and oversight, according to Yee’s office.
The request comes after State Assemblymen Phil Ting and David Chiu and state Sen. Jerry Hill introduced a package of state legislation last week seeking to increase safety inspections and improve the regulation of tour bus companies.
The bills would require the DMV and CPUC to work together to identify tour buses that have not been registered with the CPUC, increase the frequency of CHP inspections and allow cities such as San Francisco to conduct their own supplemental safety inspections.
“While legislation moves forward, San Francisco cannot afford waiting to have this conversation. As a Vision Zero city, we need to be ahead of the issue and I am eager to work with our local departments and the tour bus industry on what we can do now and what can be planned ahead to ensure the safety of our residents and visitors,” Yee said in a statement.
On Jan. 16, 82-year-old Pieter Roell was killed when a tour bus struck him as he crossed the street near Post and Divisadero streets.
The driver of the tour bus, Vincent Jones, 61, was cited for misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, under a city ordinance approved less than a year ago that prohibits tour bus operators from narrating a tour while driving, according to police.
The law requiring tour buses to have separate drivers and narrators was passed after the death of a city employee, Priscila “Precy.”
Moreto, who was fatally struck by a tour bus at Polk and McAllister streets in October 2014.
On Nov. 13, a tour bus crashed in Union Square, injuring 20 people. The bus in that crash was later found to be a “ghost bus,” meaning it was not properly registered with CPUC or inspected by the CHP.