12-year-old boy rushed to hospital after being hit by suspected drunk driver in San Francisco

Lisa Amin Gulezian Image
ByLisa Amin Gulezian KGO logo
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
12-year-old boy rushed to hospital after being hit by suspected drunk driver in San Francisco
Moments after crashing into the boy, the man behind the wheel agreed to a field sobriety test. He failed and was taken into custody.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- In San Francisco, a 12-year-old boy was hit by a car at Leavenworth and Golden Gate. The boy was apparently in the crosswalk.

Moments after crashing into the boy, the man behind the wheel of a dark-colored SUV agreed to a field sobriety test. Within minutes he went from a cooperative driver to a suspect after he failed the test. The driver was arrested.

The boy was rushed to San Francisco General Hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to San Francisco police.

Witness Jamie Ramos said, "That person ran the little kid over. He didn't just hit him, he ran him over. Look where his car is and where his clothes is. That means he ran him over."

Tenderloin residents are upset that another person has been seriously injured. The neighborhood has also seen several fatal crashes involving pedestrians.

Vision Zero was meant to stop all of this. It launched in San Francisco in 2014 and aims to drastically lower pedestrian and bicycle injuries and fatalities by the year 2024.

Supervisor Matt Haney insists the program isn't doing enough.

He said, "Our neighborhoods are not freeways. People are driving too fast. Taking fast turns from one way to other one way streets. I've been fighting to slow down traffic."