The SDPD report indicates that a man was trying to walk across Paseo Montalban, with his dog, when a Poway Unified School District school bus turning out of the area hit them
San Diego, CA – A man who was hospitalized after being struck by a vehicle on Paseo Montalban in San Diego is dead, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office.
Rene Ernest Steiner, a 69-year-old resident of San Diego, died March 28, 2026, following the injuries sustained in the auto-pedestrian collision earlier in the month.
The incident occurred at about 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 10, at the intersection of Paseo Montalban and Via Cima Bella. SDPD said Steiner was struck by a Poway Unified School District school bus while attempting to cross the street with his dog. Emergency responders transported him to a local hospital before he was eventually moved to the Sharp Hospice Lakeview Home in La Mesa, where he remained hospitalized until Saturday, March 28, when he was pronounced dead at about 8:17 p.m.
Original Story
San Diego, CA – A man was hospitalized after being struck by a school bus in the Rancho Penasquitos neighborhood of San Diego on Tuesday morning.
The auto-pedestrian collision, according to the San Diego Police Department, happened at about 8:30 a.m. March 10, on Paseo Montalban at Via Cima Bella.
The SDPD report indicates that a man was trying to walk across Paseo Montalban, with his dog, when a Poway Unified School District school bus turning out of the area hit them.
Police responded to the scene shortly after and performed CPR on the pedestrian until paramedics arrived.
Medics took over the life-saving efforts, then transported the victim to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla with life-threatening injuries, including head injuries, a bruised lung, and fractured ribs. The dog was not injured in the accident.
The pedestrian was only identified as a 69-year-old man, but his name and city of residence were not released.
The operator of the bus, a 76-year-old man, was not injured and remained at the scene. Authorities said the bus driver was the sole occupant at the time of the collision.
Roads were shut down in the area for at least three hours following the accident.
No additional details on the incident were immediately available. The San Diego Police Department is handling the ongoing investigation.
San Diego experiences thousands of traffic collisions annually, resulting in hundreds of fatalities and injuries, with recent data showing increases in certain areas and demographics. In 2021, over 24,000 collisions were reported in the San Diego region, which led to approximately 315 fatalities. A notable aspect of these statistics is the high risk for vulnerable road users; for example, pedestrians represent only a small percentage of total crashes but account for a disproportionately high 23% of fatal and serious injury collisions. In 2021 alone, there were 102 pedestrian fatalities and 17 bicyclist fatalities. Speeding, impaired driving (both alcohol and drugs), and distracted driving are consistently cited as the leading causes of accidents. In 2023, more than half of all accidents on state highways in the city of San Diego involved a speeding driver. The data indicate that certain age groups, specifically younger adults (20-29 years) and older adults (80+ years), are more frequently involved in crashes, often due to inexperience or age-related factors like slower reaction times.
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