San Diego : Driver Injured in Crash With Trolley

A car trying to make a turn in front of a moving trolley was broadsided Thursday morning, seriously injuring the car’s driver, authorities said.

Frank Arbito, 40, was taken to UC San Diego Medical Center and treated for cuts on his head, broken ribs and a punctured lung, San Diego police said. No one on the trolley was injured.

The car was struck about 10:30 as it tried to clear the intersection of 4th Avenue and C Street, witnesses said. Arbito momentarily looked away from the direction of the trolley, and, as he noticed the lead car almost upon him, accelerated.

The car was in the middle of the intersection, straddling the trolley tracks, when the collision occurred, said Patrick Muzio, 37, an unemployed construction worker who stood on the corner about 5 yards from the accident.

“The driver was looking at me, I was looking at him,” Muzio said. “Then he saw the trolley and tried to goose it right by. When they hit, it made an awful sound.”