Just an hour ago, I left my house and stopped over at Sunset Bakery to pick-up some baked goods, and I waited at the intersection of 9th Avenue and Judah for the pedestrian signal to cross. Once I received the okay from the signal, I crossed the street. At about halfway through the crosswalk, I saw a fast moving SUV making a left turn to go eastbound, and had to slam his brakes because I was still crossing in the middle of the crosswalk.
I yelled "FUCK!" loud when the SUV was approaching and the driver was able to stop with only a few feet between me and death (the bumper).
I was both ticked and really freaked out that this jackass in a red SUV was about to run my ass down and send me on a one-way trip to UCSF or the morgue. He apologized with barely any sincerity, and I gave my last choice words to the fucker.
After handling some other business in the neighborhood, I waited at the 9th Avenue and Judah bus stop to wait for my bus coming in five minutes. I took some time to note down the following violations that was happening in just FIVE MINUTES:
- Three cars violating pedestrian right of way, including one when a woman was pushing a stroller and a car making a right turn right in front of the stroller.
- Six pedestrians starting to cross the street while the red hand was flashing and less than six seconds left on the clock. Two of the six started crossing the street with less than two seconds.
- Several pedestrians crossing against a solid lit red hand during a priority signal for the N-Judah; all pedestrian signals are ordered to stay at no-crossing when the metro has the special signal to turn.
- A pedestrian blatantly crossing street against the red while there's incoming traffic; the incoming car with the green light had to blow their horn to warn the idiot.
No mention of vehicles that dont tell us where they're going? Since 1937, there is a safety device that takes near no effort to use - and gives us vital information - it's called a "turn signal" or "blinker". It benefits both pedestrians and other drivers to know which way a multi-ton rolling machine is going. Where is the enforcement? Why dont police officers model ideal behavior and use blinkers themselves?
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