In order to experience the full effect of the local media’s distortion of the facts of this story, it’s necessary to first read their accounts.

Pay particular attention to the Chronicle’s story. They had nearly 24 hours to improve the accuracy of their account over the Examiner’s, but instead made their story is markedly less accurate.

How one would visualize the accident based on the Chronicle’s account

The large “X” is the general area where readers of the Chronicle account would be led to believe the collision occured. In reality, it occured slightly beyond the crosswalk. To locate the crosswalk, see the white van waiting at the light. That’s the beginning of the crosswalk which is over 30 feet wide.

The general area the collision actually occurred

The “x” to the far left show where Mr. Moe landed after being struck. The pedestrian – to the left of the crosswalk – is roughly were Mr. Moe was when struck. The Chronicle account puts the collision beyond the red “x” on the far right.

The above photo was taken on Friday, September 5th at approximately 8: 20 AM, the same time of day as the incident which caused Mr. Moe’s death. Note the pedestrians walking on either side of the crosswalk boundries. Note the man in the crosswalk in the blue shirt just to the right of the second tree with back to the camera wheeling something large and hard to maneuver.

Pedestrians walking through same crosswalk against red light

For some reason the camera failed to capture the flashing red traffic signal, but any person with a good camera can duplicate an image like this in ten minutes or less at this corner during the morning rush hour. Thousands of San Franciscans do this every day.

Note how broad the crosswalk is. Mr. Moe’s body was found where the red circle is on the left. The corner of Sansome and Market – where he is reputed to have been making a “left hand turn onto Sansome” – is somewhat beyond the red arrow on the far right.

If one of these pedestrians were to be struck and killed by a motor vehicle which was traveling too fast through this 25 m.p.h. zone to stop in time, would you be as quick to characterize the pedestrian as “reckless?”

Why does the San Francisco Police Department tolerate speeding on Market Street during the morning rush hour? They clearly do. Go to this corner any morning rush hour and watch the cars speed by.

Why was the speed this vehicle was traveling not even an issue?

Why was the Chronicle so incredibly sloppy in reporting the details of the accident and why is it that nearly all of their inaccuracies coincidentally happen to reduce the legal and public relations liabilities of JC Decaux?

We know that a JC Decaux executive was at the scene less than 15 minutes after the accident. What impact did this individual have on the telling and re-telling of the story? What impact did the Chronicle’s business relationship with JC Decaux have on the story? Presumably the two papers talked with the JC Decaux executive. The Chronicle, in particular, seemed so satisfied with the official version of events that they saw no need to quote any of the eye witnesses in their story.

Contributions to Casey’s family may be sent to:

Casey Moe Memorial Fund
c/o SF Fireman’s Credit Union
2390 Market St.
SF, CA 94114
Attention: Michelle

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