Sharp stop to avoid crash injures six aboard cable car, San Francisco officials say
A cable car’s abrupt halt to avoid a crash injured six passengers, San Francisco firefighters told news outlets.
A cable car descending Washington Street stopped unexpectedly at the intersection with Taylor Street at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 9, firefighters told KNTV.
The cable car operator hit the emergency brake to avoid striking a vehicle stopped in the intersection, throwing passengers forward, KRON reported.
Firefighters evaluated 14 people and six were taken to hospitals with minor injuries, officials told KPIX.
Crews were still trying to remove the cable car, which had become wedged on the tracks by the sudden stop, later Monday afternoon, KNTV reported.
Cable cars have three braking systems, with the emergency brake as a last resort, according to the Cable Car Museum. The emergency brake drops a metal wedge into the trolley track.
“If the gripman cannot stop the car by other means, pulling on the lever will push the brake down into the slot where it wedges so tightly that it must often be removed with a torch,” the museum said. “This action leads to it sometimes being referred to as a guillotine brake.”
San Francisco’s famed cable cars date to 1873, the museum said.
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