A car plowed into a restaurant's outdoor dining parklet in San Diego's Pacific Beach, reportedly striking two people.
On Sunday at around 7:15pm, a sedan crashed into the parklet outside of the Woodstock's Pizza located at at 1221 Garnet Avenue in Pacific Beach. Allegedly, a young woman hit the outdoor dining area because she was distracted by her puppy, which was crated in the back seat of her car.
Two people were hit in the accident and one was subsequently transported to a nearby hospital with minor injuries. The driver was not believed to be under the influence of any drugs or alcohol at the time of the accident. Both the driver and the puppy were uninjured. The parklet was completely destroyed.
This incident is one of several similar accidents involving vehicles crashing into parklets since these outdoor dining areas were introduced during the pandemic. In February 2022, a car crashed into a parklet in front of Sorrento Ristorante on India Street in Little Ialy. In June 2022, a DUI suspect crashed into an unoccupied dining patio outside Operacaffe in San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter.
The city's Spaces as Places program, approved by the San Diego City Council in 2021, allows businesses to apply for permits to create permanent outdoor areas for dining, walking, biking, public art, education, entertainment, and other activities.
