Muni riders lift car off N-Judah tracks again

Photo via SF Streetsblog

Last week a driver drove into the Duboce Muni tunnel again, despite numerous warning signs. And again, Muni riders got out to lift the car off of the tracks. SF Streetsblog‘s Aaron was on the scene and captured it on video. Here’s Aaron’s account of what happened:

Last night, the N-Judah train I was on with my fiancee (whom I happened to meet on the N) was approaching the east portal of the Sunset Tunnel when my fellow riders and I spotted a set of tail lights up ahead. We pretty much all knew what it meant — another driver tried to enter the transit tunnel.

We all got out to find the woman’s car lodged on the edge of the concrete. Pretty soon, another train showed up headed in the other direction, and she was blocking Muni’s busiest line, both inbound and outbound. Fortunately, some good Samaritans from our train decided not to wait for a tow truck — seven men lifted the front of the car back on top of the ledge, allowing the woman to drive the car away (I don’t know if she got a citation).

This is by far not the first time that a driver accidentally entered the tunnel, and not the first time that riders got involved to get the car off of the tracks. Last June, Haighteration reported a similar incident. And at Muni Diaries Live in 2010, Derek Powazek told the story of stranded Muni riders rising to the occasion (go to 11:07 in the video).

Seriously, though, what’s it gonna take to get drivers to stop driving into these “DO NOT ENTER” tunnels?