Hit and run crashes on Chenery Street

Two recent hit and run crashes on Chenery St. are reminders that the dangers of driving don’t end once you’re parked.

Certainly cars in San Francisco are sideswiped all the time, whether from people losing control on tiny roadways or simply traveling too fast on surface streets. These usually result in a smashed sideview mirror or dents and scrapes.

But in these two instances, the hit and run drivers totaled parked cars, though thankfully no one was in them at the time and no one was injured.

Most recently, there was a hit and run crash on Chenery Street between Miguel and Fairmount Streets at 6:05 am on Thursday, July 19, when a man driving a black Honda Accord crashed into two parked cars head on.

The Honda was later found by police abandoned on Arlington Street and impounded it. Officers are still searching for the driver.

In a crash that made the news and sent local TV crews to Glen Park for three nights running (for admittedly unclear reasons after the first night), a silver or tan Ford Suburban rammed into a 1990 Honda parked in the 700 block of Chenery at 11:22 at night on March 5.

The force of the crash pushed the Honda into and under a Toyota minivan that had been parked in front of it.

Then Suburban backed down the street at high speed and sped away. The driver was not caught. The Honda was totaled, though the Toyota was repairable and is now back in service.

Though it wouldn’t have helped in these instances, police recommend that those with later model cars turn in their sideview mirrors when parking on tight streets, to protect them from being torn off by cars passing too close.