Not the worst that can happen in a Muni accident
The San Francisco Chronicle reports today that since July 2002, Muni has paid out nearly $66 million to “people who allege injuries, fatalities, and property damage caused by the agency’s transit fleet.” Muni accidents are costing the city millions, and the number of fatalities so far this year sounds pretty awful to me:
Three pedestrians have been killed so far this year by Muni buses or streetcars. In January, a 40-year-old man in the Sunset District tripped and fell under an N-Judah streetcar, which dragged him for two blocks. In May, a 77-year-old woman was struck and killed by a 71-Haight-Noriega bus on Market Street. Last month, a 63-year-old woman died after an N-Judah streetcar struck her in a crosswalk.
Last year, there were eight fatalities, double the number from 2006. In most every case involving death or serious injury, the city is sued. Some of the cases take years to resolve.
(From Muni Accidents Cost S.F. Dearly)
Personally I have seen some pretty reckless behaviors like drivers who can’t see cyclists riding in the bike lane or an extremely fast bus careening down the hill (hello 27-Bryant, I am talking to you!). My car’s got a pretty ugly dent from the Mission bus that decided to sidle up to my passenger door a few years ago. According to the Chronicle, accidents like these (Muni hits another vehicle) account for more than half of the claims. Meanwhile, the top safety position at the agency has remained unfilled for the past four to five months, reports the Chronicle.
Have you seen any dangerous Muni behavior or accidents?
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Reposted from my blog from almost 2 years ago. To this day I still have no idea what the deal was with these two.
I was driving back from Fort Mason last night, taking Fillmore up and over to the Castro. I ended up getting stuck behind two 22s. I was about a mile away from home, so I wanted to pass at least the rear bus, so I’d be able to pass the next one when it pulled into a bus stop.
At about McAllister, the rear bus was stopped at the beginning of the block, with me still in the intersection. I pulled to the left a bit, and saw that there was no oncoming traffic, and that the front bus was at the end of the block, with nothing between it and the rear bus. So I accelerated past the rear bus, which started moving forward as I passed it. No big deal, buses are like that.
But it started accelerating way faster than it needed to be, and it was clear that it was trying to box me out, and I don’t where exactly it expected me to go. I managed to speed up and pass it, with a dozen feet to spare, between the two buses. Then the rear bus gets right up about four feet from ass and flips on its brights. I’m just sitting there going, “Buh?” I passed it with plenty of room, over a dashed yellow line, so it was perfectly legal and not even particularly aggressive.
But whatever, not my problem if the driver’s a psycho. I grew up driving here, I can handle it. So the rear bus tails me for a block, brights still on, until about Haight, where the front bus pulls into the bus stop, and I pull up to its left, like always. I guess there were no people waiting, and the bus suddenly pulls even with me and is inching forward at the red, like it’s going to try to pass me in the curb lane/intersection. And sure enough as soon as the light turns green, it speeds up and tries to shove back into the lane. I pretty much had to beat it, because even if I stopped, I probably would’ve been hit by the back left side of the bus, and I sure as hell didn’t want to be between those two buses again. So I accelerated again, barely squeezing through (think the Falcon at the end of Jedi) and left those psychos in the dust.
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That’s really scary – talk about road rage! Are the drivers so poorly compensated that they have this much angst against people on the road? I admit it is a crappy job, but still…
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Sometimes pedestrians or bicyclists can be brazenly careless too. I often see homeless people walking down the middle of the street. Sometimes, they’ll even wait for red lights to cross. I have also seen bicyclists with road rage…when I’m driving in my truck, some of the more aggressive members of Critical Mass will pass me at stoplights and kick my truck. I even had one follow me home and as I was getting out, he yelled racial slurs at me, saying I was a horrible person who doesn’t care about Earth, and that I deserved to be killed because I use gas…I drive a Ford Ranger! A small truck! It gets 28gpm! I’ve even had pedestrians jump out in front of my truck and try to get hit, just so they could sue me and get cash. Mainly the drunkards that occupy the Haight do that though.
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Well I got hit like that last night, and it was not pretty, a nice black line down the side of my car and a broken rear view mirror. Plenty of room to pull to the side and it did not. Engineers desigened bus stops so they could pull aside and allow traffic to pass by them thus aleviating any congestion, but muni drivers unlike any in california have decided on an angle pull over to the bus stop disabeling the lane they ride on for anyone else to move forward until they have. pretty unfair and caused my accident last night.
In any case, the driver was rude and did not want to give me any of her info till the supervisor came to the scene. I dont know what will happen but I will post the results here.
I also have pics.
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