SAN FRANCISCO—Last week, a three-story light pole fell on top of car at Pine and Taylor Streets, nearly hitting the driver. Officials from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission say that there were varying conditions that caused the pole to fall, one of them being the corrosion at its base that was caused by urine.
The driver of the car, currently unidentified, came close to being injured. “Had the man been pulled up a little bit more he would have been killed at the scene,” Susie Salvi, a witness at the scene, told KTVU.
A banner was also weighing down the lamppost, but the PUC confirmed that they believed it was the corrosion what had ultimately caused it to break and fall. “We believe there was some contribution of dog or human urine on the base of the pole,” PUC spokesman Tyrone Jue told the San Francisco Chronicle, “This has actually been an issue for us in the past. We encourage people and dogs alike to do their business in other places, like a proper restroom or one of our fire hydrants, which are stronger and made out of cast iron.” No one was injured during the incident.
Last year, SF Mayor Edward Lee increased the street light budget for maintenance and replacement of poles. San Francisco has launched an assessment program to visually check on every single light post in the city, all 25,000 of them. Over 100 lights have already been replaced along San Bruno Avenue.
The California drought has provided less rain to wash away the urine, and the smell of the city has increased. “It’s not so much the urination,” he said, but rather the “historic levels of drug use.” Proposition 47, which passed in November 2014, downgrades drug possession to a misdemeanor and it allows state prisoners to seek early release.
To help aid the urination problem, Hizzoner has increased public restroom access, Pit Stop has installed public toilets and Mayor Lee has given additional funds to the Department of Public Works for cleanup crews and housing for the homeless.
