Driving Antics #2

August 5, 2010-I forgot to add one more category of drivers:

#4-Professional Stupid Drivers-These are the drivers that must know the rules of road, because their livelihood depends upon it...Muni drivers, taxi drivers, limousine drivers, airport shuttle drivers, tour bus drivers, grocery delivery drivers, parcels drivers, construction vehicle drivers and truck drivers. 

I place almost 75% are bad drivers, while my chatting buddies claims only 50% are bad. When we broke it down into the different types of drivers we all came to some agreement...taxi drivers 75% bad---I can recall a taxi driver once told me that the police overlook some of their illegal driving maneuvers because they know they must make a living. I doubt that very seriously, since I have seen California Highway Patrol pull speeding taxi heading to and from the airport. Try telling the family of a vacationing Ohio couple, that the taxi driver taking them from the airport to the City claims smells something burning in the car but instead of pulling over in the freeway to investigate, he continue on and ended up hitting an off ramp pillar and killing the two passengers because he had no brake. The driver survived!

Muni drivers we are almost in agreement, they claims 90% but I placed it at 97% are bad drivers. Why? They had no accountability...get into an accident, the driver most likely not going to get fired and the City ends up paying thousands in litigation fees. Some blame it on the powerful Union and I too concurred, since the Muni drivers just got a 5.75 percent pay raise. All other City employees had agreed to wage cuts to help balance the City budget deficit, but the Muni employees refused concessions. The City Charter guaranteed the driver wages to be the Nation's second highest paid transit operators. One of the Muni operator told in a TV interview that the pay raise was necessary to help cover the increase in their health premiums. How come other City workers or workers in general cannot claims that same perks? I forgot we are not listed in the City Charter---cannot wait until the upcoming November election, when the mad public citizens revoke that provision of the City Charter.

Today at 9:20 AM on my walk back home at my favor corner---Green/Columbus/Stockton:

  

The bus was completely over the crosswalk and pedestrians are walking beyond the crosswalk to pass the bus. The driver excuse---none---just plain stupid. There are no police officer nearby and the Muni inspector stationed down the block in his car cannot see behind him either!

City pedestrians and tourist...welcome to my world!