If you're the kind of person who thinks homeless people are useless garbage that deserves to be run over, you'll think the article is pointing this out to inform you that what happened was not a big deal and the person walking out in front of the car was at fault.

If you're the kind of person who considers homelesness an affront to the dignity of human societies that tolerate it, you'll think that the article is pointing out the tragic angle of a woman already suffering from exclusion and poverty being run over by the malfunction of an extremely expensive piece of equipment that should be recalled at once.

If you're somewhere in between, you'll still gravitate towards one of the extremes. In any case, mentioning that Elen Herzberg was homeless is only there as an appeal to emotion.

By the way- Elen Herzberg's friends and family have said she was not homeless. I recall, I think, a stepdaughter, saying that she had "issues with homelessness" but had recently turned her life around and was starting a new job.