Fatal pedestrian accident: A motorist who got out of his car after a freeway accident was struck and killed by an unmarked police car on the Capital City Freeway — Interstate 80 business loop — in Sacramento Wednesday morning.

• A Mustang spun out, went off the freeway and crashed into the fence.

• The driver got out of the disabled vehicle and walked onto the freeway, where he was hit by an unmarked police car.

• The man was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died.

The fatal accident occurred at about 2 a.m., according to a report in the Sacramento Bee.

It started when a Ford Mustang driven by 29-year-old Richard Hicks of Elk Grove crashed and went off of the eastbound side of the freeway Arden Way and El Camino Avenue. The Mustang crashed into a fence on the right shoulder of the freeway.

There are no witnesses to that crash, but California Highway Patrol officers said they found skid marks in the middle of the freeway that were shaped like “doughnuts,” according to a KCRA News report. The marks indicate that the Mustang spun out of control before it veered off the side of the road.

Investigators believe that Hicks then got out of the disabled Mustang and attempted to leave the scene on foot. He was walking across the freeway when an unmarked police car driven by a Sacramento SWAT officer struck him.

Hicks was rushed to Mercy San Juan Hospital, where he died from his injuries.

The officer had just left another incident and was not speeding, the CHP said. Investigators noted that it was dark out and Hicks was wearing very dark clothing. The officer did not see him in the middle of the road before it was too late to stop.

There was no alcohol in the car, CHP officer Mike Waggoner told ABC Channel 10 News.

Authorities closed two lanes of the freeway between Arden Way and El Camino Avenue for almost five hours while the scene was cleared and the CHP collected evidence. The freeway reopened just before 7 a.m.

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A 51-year-old paraglider died Sunday after his equipment failed while he was 80 feet up in the air at Levin County Park in Milpitas.

• A paraglider was about 80 feet in the air when the equipment failed and the canopy collapsed.

• The pilot tried to open a parachute but there was not enough time. He crashed into a hillside and plunged to the ground.

• Emergency workers tried to save him but he died at the scene.

The accident occurred at about 1:40 p.m., according to a report in the San Jose Mercury News.

Santa Clara County parks department spokesperson Janine Burgess said Everett A. Greel III, a San Jose resident, crashed into the hillside near Monument Peak Trail after his paraglider malfunctioned.

A paraglider is a foot-launched soaring aircraft in which the pilot sits in a harness suspended below a parachute-style canopy.

A witness said he saw Greel paragliding about 80 feet above the ground when his parachute canopy failed, according to Sgt. Jose Cardoza of the sheriff’s office. The witness said he heard the sound of a sheet ruffling and then saw Greel plunge to the ground.

A fire department official said Greel tried to open a parachute when the glider began to fail, but was unable to avoid crashing into hillside. Cardoza said the hillside was about 80 feet down the slope and 900 feet south of the trail.

A number of agencies responded to the scene. Park rangers were able to reach Greel within a few minutes, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle. Greel was awake when emergency workers arrived, but he lapsed into unconsciousness.

Emergency workers immediately started administering CPR, but Greel did not survive. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Paragliding Fatality Statistics

The number of paragliding accident deaths in the United States varies each year, according to the U.S. Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (USHPA). The highest number of recorded fatalities during the past 20 years was nine, in 2003. Last year (2010) only two deaths were reported.

In general, pilots who are USHPA members range in age from under 20 to over 70, with the majority being in their 30s, 40s and 50s. Almost all of the pilots who were in accidents were men.

“Women accounted for only one pilot injury and one tandem passenger injury,” USHPA staff writer Mike Steed wrote in the 2010 summary. “Female pilots are few so their share of injuries tends to jump around, but over the years women seem less likely to crash as pilots. At the same time, women are more likely to be in the worst (forward) seat in a tandem tumble.”

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Fatal pedestrian accident: A 71-year-old man was struck and killed by a Muni bus Sunday in downtown San Francisco.

• A pedestrian who was trying to cross Mission Street was run over by a Muni bus that pulled away from a stop at the same time.

• Emergency workers had to use wooden planks to lift the bus so they could free the man, whose leg was pinned under a tire.

• The victim was taken to a hospital, where he died from his injuries.

The deadly Muni bus accident occurred at 12:19 p.m., according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.

The victim, later identified as Manuel Tomaneng, was wearing a security guard’s uniform. Witnesses said he looked as though he was heading for work.

San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency spokesman Paul Rose said Tomaneng was attempting to cross the street when the westbound 14-Mission bus pulled away from its regular stop at Fifth and Mission streets. The bus was articulated, which means it had a second passenger cabin to accommodate more passengers.

Tomaneng “got caught up in the middle,” Rose told the San Francisco Examiner. Two sets of tires ran over his legs. His lunch bag lay next to him in the street.

Witness Christopher Wilkow, who was attending a church service across the street noticed the commotion and ran out to see what happened. He discovered the victim’s legs sticking out from under the bus. Wilkow told the Chronicle the bus driver didn’t even realize he had run over the pedestrian.

A woman called 911 while Wilkow and a third person climbed under the bus to try to help the victim. They found that the man’s right leg was pinned under a tire.

“I just held his hand and kept telling him to breathe,” Wilkow said.

When police and fire department emergency crews arrived, they used wooden planks to raise the bus so they could free the man from under the bus. Paramedics rushed Tomaneng to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

A spokeswoman for the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s Office said the victim’s address was not known. A friend told the Chronicle that Tomaneng had no family in the area.

The SF Appeal reported that the bus driver was placed on nondriving status and would be tested for drugs and alcohol, as is standard procedure during an investigation.

“We are working with police to investigate the matter,” Rose said. “We are questioning the operator now, but it is too early to say exactly what happened.

San Francisco: Walk at Your Own Risk

San Francisco is a great place to walk around, but it can be dangerous for pedestrians. Half of the people killed in traffic collisions in San Francisco are pedestrians, according to a Muni report published in October 2010. That’s a much higher percentage than in other major American cities, the report states.

There were more than 800 collisions involving pedestrians in 2008, the latest statistics show. The leading cause of non-fatal pedestrian injury collisions was motorist failure to yield, which often involves inattentive or distracted driving.

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Fatal pedestrian accident: One of two twin 14-year-old girls who were struck in a Covina crosswalk earlier this week died Thursday in a Los Angeles hospital. Her sister is still in critical condition on Friday.

• Twin 14-year-old sisters were walking to school Monday morning when they were struck by a car at an intersection without a traffic signal.

• One of the girls died. The other is in critical condition.

• Residents say the intersection is dangerous. They have asked local officials to install a traffic light but it has not been done. They say the will hold a vigil at the intersection until a light is installed.

The tragic accident occurred Monday at about 6:45 a.m., as the girls were walking to school, according to an earlier KTLA News report.

Leilani and Luana Fukui were crossing Lark Ellen Avenue at Tudor Street when they were hit by a 2007 Honda Civic. The vehicle, driven by a 30-year-old Newport Beach woman, was traveling at a speed of about 30 mph when it hit the two girls, who were in a crosswalk. The driver said she did not see the teens.

Both girls suffered catastrophic injuries.

Leilani Fukui was pronounced dead at 11 a.m. on Thursday at Los Angeles County USC Medical Center, hospital spokesperson Rosa Saca told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Her sister, Luana Fukui, was still in critical condition and fighting for her life.

No charges have been filed against the driver who hit the girls, California Highway Patrol officer Kerri Rivas said. The CHP investigation is ongoing.

Local residents blame the dangerous intersection.

“So many times, cars haven’t stopped,” crossing guard Irene Whitter told KTLA. “I’m out there in a big yellow jacket waving my sign and they don’t stop.”

Many residents say a traffic light would really help. Debbie Marin, who lives near the intersection, told the Tribune that she previously had asked local officials to install a light at the intersection, but they have not done so.

“I’m already angry that this has to happen, because I asked for this (traffic light) in the past. And now we have a death and one girl fighting for her life,” Marin said.

Marin said two representatives from County Supervisor Michael Antonovich’s office and two people from the public works department came to a vigil Thursday night, talked to residents, and observed the traffic.

Residents plan to continue their vigil at the intersection until a traffic light is installed, Marin said.

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A dangerous U-turn led to a car accident that killed an 18-year-old girl Wednesday night in Brea.

• A teen driver pulled her sedan over to the right dirt shoulder and then attempted to make a U-turn on a road divided by a double yellow line. She pulled directly into the path of an oncoming Jeep SUV.

• The Jeep did not have time to slow down or stop. It slammed into the driver’s side of the sedan.

• The teen driver died at the scene. Her passenger was taken to a hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

The fatal accident occurred just after 6:30 p.m., according to a report in the Orange County Register.

California Highway Patrol officer Justin Cox said the teen, who lived in Victorville, was driving a Chrysler sedan southbound on Brea Boulevard at the time of the crash. She had a male passenger in the car with her.

As she approached Tonner Canyon Road, the teen pulled the Chrysler over to the dirt shoulder on the right of the roadway. She slowed the vehicle and then made a U-turn directly in front of a southbound Jeep sports utility vehicle, Cox said.

The Jeep, which was traveling at about 50 mph, did not have time to slow down or stop. It slammed into the driver’s side of the Chrysler, T-boning the sedan.

The teen driver died at the scene, Cox said. Her passenger was transported to U.C. Irvine Medical Center to be treated for injuries that CHP officer Denise Quesada described as minor. The nature and extent of his injuries was not known.

The driver of the Jeep was not injured, Quesada said.

Dangerous U-Turns

U-turns can be extremely dangerous — and should never be attempted from the right side of a road. The California Vehicle Code is very specific about when and where U-turns are allowed.

No matter where you are driving — in a residential district, in city traffic, or on a highway — you are never allowed to make a U-turn from anywhere other than the far left lane or the center left turn lane.

In a residential district, U-turns are allowed only if there are no vehicles approaching within 200 feet and only when a traffic sign, light, or signal protects you from approaching vehicles.

In city traffic, U-turns are allowed at intersections with a green light or green arrow, unless a “No U-turn” sign is posted.

On a divided highway, U-turns are not allowed unless an opening is provided in the center divider.

See the California Department of Motor Vehicles Driver Handbook for more information on turns.

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