My Blog
Why I don't like bus drivers ...
Thu, December 15, 2005 - 12:01 PM
I remember one early morning crossing the street to the train station - I had the light, I was in the crosswalk, when zwoosh, a double sized bus decides to make a left on the yellow light and cuts in front of my nose. I felt the breeze and had to take a step back not to be smooshed. And then guess what, I was left in the middle of the street with four lanes of traffic coming at me. I'm glad as a pedestrian that I didn't inconvenience the poor bus driver and make her miss the light - sheesh!
Other times I have seen buses leave passengers in the dust running to the door (I guess that would make them potential passengers) and other polite bus driverisms. Oh, and don't get me going on the foot on the gas right after you put the money in the hopper thing!
So, whenever I see they have killed someone, or taken out a bus stop, or crashed into cars I just can't believe their crappy excuses. The majority of them are rude, insensitive, cranky-cause-they-got-the-wrong-profession, bad-driving, maniacs.
Thu, December 15, 2005 - 12:01 PM -
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Thu, December 15, 2005 - 3:18 PM
As a MUNI rider since 1977 I agree with what you've said and have seen those same thing s happen to other as well as experienced them myself. BUT I can also say that the nice and CAREFUL drivers outweigh the bad, but they don't get the headlines sadly.
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Fri, December 16, 2005 - 12:59 PM
Why I don't like "some" bus drivers ...
Ok, I generalized - I only hate the bus drivers I don't like very much. For instance, I thought Ralph Kramden was ok ... and the bus driver in the Simpsons too ...
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Mon, December 19, 2005 - 11:17 AM
Redding's RABA sucks!
Don't get me started...lol...here in Redding...it takes two hours to get anywhere on the bus. They only run once an hour and you have to go to their depot before you get to your destination. I remember taking the buses in San Fernando Valley... those where some good 'bus' days...every 15 minutes and ever street had one. It was convenient and easy to take the buses down there...up here....if I don't drive myself, I walk...and get there faster:)
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Tue, December 20, 2005 - 12:25 PM
OMG! It happened again!
And if you read closely, there is the ever present attempt at trying to blame the victim...
SAN FRANCISCO 2nd fatal accident in 2 weeks for Muni Incident occurred at Haight and Cole, where bus ran over woman 9 years ago - Cecilia M. Vega, Suzanne Herel, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, December 20, 2005 A 64-year-old San Francisco man became the second pedestrian in less than two weeks to die after being struck by a Muni bus as he crossed the street. Edward Badelalla was in the crosswalk when he was hit Saturday evening in the same Haight Street intersection where a Muni bus ran down and crushed a woman nine years ago. Badelalla, who lived in the Tenderloin, was headed north across Haight Street at Cole Street around 6 p.m. when a 43-Masonic bus traveling north on Cole turned right onto Haight and struck him, said San Francisco police spokeswoman Officer Maria Oropeza. "We should be outraged each and every time this happens," said Emily Drennen, executive director of the pedestrian activist group Walk SF. Muni spokeswoman Maggie Lynch said the driver involved in Saturday's incident was put on non-driving status, but she refused to speak further about the crash. On Monday, pedestrian advocates and Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, whose district includes the Haight Street crash site, gathered at the intersection to express their frustration with Muni. "This underscores one more time that this city is suffering in its relationship between pedestrians, bicyclists and Muni," Mirkarimi said. "I don't know how many more deaths, casualties and lawsuits it's going to take in order to institute the kinds of reforms that are required," he said. On Dec. 15, 1996, a 26-year-old legal assistant walking in a crosswalk in the same intersection was also hit by a Muni bus. The driver, who was found to be at fault, inadvertently drove over the woman with the rear wheels and caused near-fatal abdominal injuries, sheared her pelvis and broke other bones, according to the woman's lawsuit. The city later agreed to a $4 million payout in the case. Muni has paid more than $45 million as a result of its involvement in accidents between 1996 and 2004, according to a review of data provided to The Chronicle by the city attorney. Earlier this year, the parents of a 4-year-old girl who was killed when she was hit in 2003 by a Muni maintenance truck were awarded $15 million -- the largest personal injury award ever against San Francisco. "Literally, Muni's blind spots are costing lives and a tremendous amount of taxpayers' dollars," Mirkarimi said. The busy intersection at Haight and Cole streets bustles with shoppers, tourists and residents visiting stores and restaurants in the historic neighborhood. Katherine Roberts, who has lived in the Haight area for 30 years and walks regularly because she does not own a car, said she has long considered the intersection dangerous because of its hectic mix of cars, buses and pedestrians. "This is a really scary intersection," she said. "It's a miracle these things don't happen more often." Oropeza said the police hit-and-run detail is investigating the incident, which occurred after dark during a rainstorm. Pedestrians in a crosswalk have the right-of-way, she said, "but technically if he darted out once the bus was already turning, that changes circumstances." The right front side of the bus hit Badelalla, and the impact threw him to the sidewalk, Oropeza said. He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where he died of head injuries at 10:07 p.m. No charges have been filed against the driver, whose name has not been released. Pedestrian activists and others are planning a candlelight vigil at the crash site tonight for Badelalla. Muni has reduced its involvement in accidents from 3,043 in 2001-2002 to 2,437 in 2004-2005, according to Muni quarterly service standards reports. Still, Saturday's fatal accident was the second in two weeks involving a Muni bus. At 6:34 a.m. on Dec. 5, Qiong Zhen Yu Zhou, 56, was struck by the 27-Bryant bus while crossing Van Ness Avenue at Jackson Street. Yu Zhou, who was on her way to work as a health care assistant, was crushed under the bus' wheels, authorities said. The Muni driver told authorities that he hadn't seen Yu Zhou and while investigators initially said the driver might have been blinded by a reflection of the rising sun, the sun was not up that early. "It's bizarre that it happened within two weeks of each other," said Drennen, the pedestrian safety activist. "Unfortunately the city has gotten used to the fact that pedestrians are killed or injured on our streets all the time," she said. |