See What Being Nice Gets You?
Muni drivers! Oh, sure, there’s some bad eggs, like The Rogue Texter. But they’re not all bad, and plenty of them are calm and pleasant and have to put up with a lot of shit.
For example, this fellow who claims to be (and we have no reason to doubt him) a Muni driver. Apparently, an attempt to be nice resulted in a bad run-in with a crazy person.
The trouble started when the driver, who hadn’t yet started his run, opened the doors of the bus to let passengers wait. That is nice! Plenty of bus drivers make passengers wait outside until they are ready to depart.
But then the crazy person, who was shoeless and hopping mad, tried to sneak on without paying. Shouting ensued. The driver, from his account, kept his calm, exchanged a few words, and that was that. Oh, mercy.
Why Can’t Muni Keep its Doors Shut?
Yet another train was captured on video with its doors dangling wide open, and Muni has taken a hard line by declaring that that definitely is not supposed to happen. This is a change of position from Friday, when they said that they didn’t think it had happened.
Now that they know it actually has, the agency has proposed a number of solutions to prevent it from happening again, including making modifications to the doors, more mechanics, and better training. Oh, sure, there’s plenty of money for all of those things.
The door troubles come in the midst of labor negotiations, and it would seem that Muni drivers did themselves no favors by voting to approve a strike. A letter writer to the Ex has a delightful plan to replace all the strikers with scabs a la Ronald Reagan and the air traffic controllers.
Hold on, though, who’s that writer? Howard Epstein, former Chairman of the SF Republican Party? Oh.
Stop Talking
Watch out, cell phone users: fines are going up for talking while driving. And if that’s not enough of a disincentive, you could also die.
Chatty Cathys are looking at as much as $528 for distracted driving (which means that the price tag for using the SF Park app might continue to shoot on up). That may seem like a lot, but it’s a bargain compared to your hospital bills if you get into a wreck. The author of a previous increase claims that it decreased distracted driving by 60 to 70 percent.
There’s some controversy surrounding that claim: it’s based on some kinda fuzzy data from studies that are difficult to compare. And ultimately, it’s driver education that really changes behavior — but having some sharp teeth behind a campaign never hurts.
Speaking of distracted driving, it sounds like a driver may have had his mind elsewhere near Duboce Park when he crashed into a cyclist. According to an angry poster that’s appeared on nearby phone poles, the car swerved in front of the cyclist, causing a collision before speeding off.
The cops have the driver’s license number, but they need witnesses. So, if you spotted the incident, please get in touch.
No word yet on if the accident victim will be canceling his subscription to the New York Times.
Nevius Christens a “Love Train,” City Frets Over Crowd Control
More stories of love from that softy, C. W. Nevius: a reader reports spontaneously falling on love on a Montgomery Station escalator and asking a random girl for a date. Of course, they got married and have been together for nearly two decades. Awwww.
And the America’s Cup crowds have a lot of folks worried, since a lot of people will need to move around the city and Muni can barely get us where we need to be on a normal day.
Got any ideas? Planners are looking for suggestions, and they’re holding a brainstorming session Thursday at 10pm at City Hall.
They should get some great input from people who have nothing better to do in the middle of a workday than traipse around Civic Center.
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