Two unrelated car accidents occurred on 19th Avenue and Winston Drive at approximately 1:00 p.m. today.

The first was a single-car accident in which the driver fell asleep and drove into a traffic signal in front of the Stonestown Galleria while traveling southbound on 19th Avenue toward the SF State campus. The driver was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure, according to San Francisco Police.

A crew of workers from the City and County of San Francisco Department of Parking and Traffic erected a temporary traffic signal in order to ensure public safety. California state law requires there to be a minimum of two traffic signal indications for each direction in an intersection at any time.

Steve Vannucchi, a member of the crew working to replace the traffic signal said the temporary signal would be up by 5 p.m. today.

"When something like this happens it's drop everything," Vannucchi said, who estimates the vehicle responsible for the downed traffic signal was exceeding the speed limit.
The downed signal did not affect power to any of the other traffic signals at the intersection of 19th Avenue and Winston Drive.

The second was a two-car accident that occurred shortly after in the driveway heading into the shopping center. A Nissan forced a silver Toyota Corolla onto the median where the Toyota struck a street lamp. The driver of the Toyota was also taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure.

"We're still trying to investigate," said San Francisco Police officer F. Leiva, who was unable to provide many details about the accident.

The Nissan was found by police in the Stonestown parking lot. No one in the car was harmed and the vehicle drove away with minimal damage.

Southbound traffic on 19th Avenue slowed due to crews working in the area and the beginning of rush hour traffic.

According to police none of the individuals involved in either accident were SF State students.