A Recology driver was injured this week when their truck tipped over into a recycling pit at one of the company's facilities. The driver was reportedly taken to the hospital, and the incident is under investigation.

Let's pause and acknowledge the obvious — we hope the driver makes a full recovery. Workplace accidents are serious, and no one should get hurt on the job.

But let's also acknowledge the elephant in the room: this is the same Recology that holds a monopoly on San Francisco's trash collection, the same company that was at the center of a massive corruption scandal involving bribes to former Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru, and the same company that ratepayers have been forced to subsidize through some of the highest garbage bills in the country.

San Franciscans pay roughly $50 a month for a single residential garbage can — rates that would make residents in most American cities spit out their coffee. And what do we get for that premium? A company that apparently can't keep its own trucks from falling into holes at its own facilities.

The city's cozy, no-bid relationship with Recology has long been a case study in what happens when competition is eliminated and government oversight gets a little too friendly with the entity it's supposed to be regulating. When one company controls the entire waste stream with zero market pressure to improve, you get inflated costs, ethical lapses, and — apparently — trucks in pits.

Maybe it's time San Francisco did what dozens of other cities have done and opened waste collection to competitive bidding. Let companies compete on price, safety records, and service quality. Novel concept, we know.

In the meantime, stay safe out there, Recology workers. Your employer's problems shouldn't be yours.