SFMTA settles lawsuit after death of 12-year-old student

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors settled a $850,000 lawsuit involving the death of a 12-year-old student in 2015.

Directors discussed and approved the lawsuit settlement under closed session at its regular Tuesday board meeting.

Andrew Wu, a student at Aptos Middle School, was with his mother on foot crossing the street on May 12, 2015 around 8:30 a.m. in a marked crosswalk heading eastbound at San Jose and Lakeview avenues when a M-Ocean View Muni light rail vehicle struck Wu.

Wu died of his injuries at the scene.

The lawsuit, filed in 2016 by Wu’s mother, Su Hong Pan and Wu’s father, Ze Chou Wu, alleged The City was negligent and careless of the poor design of the street and that the Muni operator, Gregory Richardson, failed to yield to Wu was in a marked crosswalk.

The lawsuit said The City failed to make changes to a dangerous street, including adding traffic control devices to alert drivers of pedestrians crossing the street, posting the speed limit sign and citing that the three-way intersection had only one stop sign.

Wu’s mother also suffered “serious emotional distress” following the death of her son a she was a witness to his death.

SFMTA spokesperson Paul Rose said the transit agency have put all-way stop signs along San Jose Avenue since the incident.

Richardson still works for the transit agency, Rose said.

Jerold Chinn

Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.