SAN FRANCISCO — In this city of innumerable tourist attractions, the clanging cable cars stand out as a top draw.
The quaint conveyances also stand out for the inordinate number of accidents and the millions of dollars annually the city pays out to settle lawsuits for broken bones, severed feet and bad bruises caused when 19th-century technology runs headlong into 21st-century city traffic.
Cable cars average about an accident a month and routinely rank among the most accident-prone mass transportation modes in the country per vehicle mile traveled annually, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Over the past 10 years, city officials have reported 126 accidents injuring 151 people.
After an accident in February when seven people were injured after a cable car slammed to a stop after hitting a small bolt in the track, The Associated Press obtained through a public-records request a listing of cable car-related legal settlements over the past three years. Those figures show the city paying nearly $8 million to settle about four dozen legal claims.
The city has paid on average $12 million annually to settle all claims connected to its mass transportation system that also has electric street cars and buses, which travel many more miles and carry many more passengers.
City officials acknowledge that the open-air cable cars, which ply only 8 miles of track, produce a disproportionate amount of accident-related costs. But they say the cars are a valuable part of the city’s life and character.
“The iconic cable cars of San Francisco are a National Historic Landmark, and we work every day to make them safer,” said Mayor Ed Lee.
San Francisco remains the only place on the planet with a true, manually operated cable-car system serving the public.
“The 19th-century technology of the cable cars does pose some challenges,” said Paul Rose, a spokesman for the city agency that oversees San Francisco mass transit. “While one accident is too many and we’re always working to improve safety, these incidents are rare.”
