SUV driver was speeding before SF family of 4 killed: MTA report

Amy Larson
·3 min read

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — After a family of four was tragically killed at a San Francisco bus stop, city transportation officials released their first report on the crash.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s traffic fatality report collision summary states that the driver of an SUV was speeding into on-coming traffic when it plowed into the bus stop on March 16.

An infant, 1-year-old boy, mother, and father were waiting for a bus to take them to the zoo when they were killed. Police said Mary Fong Lau, 78, was driving the Mercedes SUV when it barreled into the family at Muni Metro West Portal Station.

The MTA’s collision summary states, “A driver of an SUV was speeding eastbound on Ulloa St, drove on the wrong side of the road and onto the sidewalk, struck the library, and struck the victims, who were waiting at the bus shelter at Lennox.”

Diego Cardoso de Oliveira, Matilde Ramos Pinto, and their young children pose for a family photo. (Photo courtesy the Pinto and Oliveira family)
Diego Cardoso de Oliveira, Matilde Ramos Pinto, and their young children pose for a family photo. (Photo courtesy the Pinto and Oliveira family)

The San Francisco Police Department has not released a cause behind the crash.

A Chief Medical Examiner identified the four victims as:

  • Diego Cardoso de Oliveira, 40

  • Matilde Moncada Ramos Pinto, 38

  • Joaquin Ramos Pinto de Oliveira, 1

  • Cauê Ramos Pinto de Oliveira, 2 months

The bus stop tragedy’s youngest victim is seen in a photograph at a memorial. (KRON4 image)
The bus stop tragedy’s youngest victim is seen in a photograph at a memorial. (KRON4 image)

The heart-wrenching tragedy happened on a sunny Saturday afternoon. The mother, father, and baby Joaquin died that day. Two-month-old Cauê clung to life for four days inside UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

The infant “was the last surviving member of Matilde and Diego’s direct family. Little Cauê was a fighter and our hero; his organs were donated and will serve to save the lives of other children,” family members of the victims’ wrote in a statement.

Matilde Ramos Pinto, left, and Diego Cardoso de Oliveira, right, are seen in a photograph left at the bus stop memorial. (KRON4 image)
Matilde Ramos Pinto, left, and Diego Cardoso de Oliveira, right, are seen in a photograph left at the bus stop memorial. (KRON4 image)

The statement continued, “Diego and Matilde were warm and loving parents who had a deep love for their beautiful children and enjoyed nothing more than spending time with their two little boys. They were also what one would call real ‘life enhancers’ — the kind of people everyone loved to be around: happy, funny, kind, and always eager to make the best of what life had to offer them.”

Infant dies after crash at SF West Portal bus stop

A woman places flowers in a growing memorial for those killed at a Muni bus stop in San Francisco. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
A woman places flowers in a growing memorial for those killed at a Muni bus stop in San Francisco. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

The MTA’s report states that the site of the crash has a double yellow centerline, a “do not pass” sign, and train warning signs.

Police arrested Lau on suspicion of manslaughter, reckless driving with bodily injury, driving the wrong way on a divided highway, and speeding. Lau is currently out of custody.

The District Attorney’s Office has not filed any charges so far in the case, according to San Francisco Superior Court records. Toxicology tests can take months to be completed.

An SUV crashed into Muni’s West Portal Station on Saturday, March 16, 2024. (Benjamin Fanjoy /San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
An SUV crashed into Muni’s West Portal Station on Saturday, March 16, 2024. (Benjamin Fanjoy /San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Lau’s attorney, Sam Geller, told KRON4, “I’m grateful and appreciate of the fact that the DA’s Office, despite the potential of public pressures, is conducting a thorough investigation to make a proper determination.”

Lau’s attorney wrote, “Ms. Lau has been fully cooperating with investigators and will continue to do so. While it’s understandable to seek more information regarding the causes of this devastating accident, Ms. Lau and her family respectfully request privacy during this difficult time.”

Jodie Medeiros, executive director of Walk San Francisco, said, “This is one of the worst pedestrian tragedies to ever occur on San Francisco streets. It is almost beyond comprehension.”

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