In 2008, this city passed a law requiring police officers to pull over and ticket any drivers caught talking or texting (the ultimate in brainless stupidity) while operating a vehicle. To me, that law should be unnecessary, but that is because I am a big believer in common sense. Duh, if you are too distracted to pay attention to the red light and not run over the pedestrian who has right of way in the cross walk (that was me walking there, thank you very much), then you should pay the fine for being a moron. People who drive cars can be very stupid, it is a fact.
Bicyclists these days seem to be the yuppie version of the Hell's Angels, in an eco-friendly way, of course. They travel in packs, have their own codes of ethics that are incomprehensible to anyone not in their group, and seem to have a complete lack of regard for anyone not riding around on two self propelled wheels. They can come across as complete jerks and can be as dangerous as automobiles when it comes to their ability to hurt people.
Pedestrians don't get off either - I myself have been very guilty of standing in the crosswalk waiting for the light to turn green, effectively blocking a driver from making a legal right hand turn on a red light. All the lovely people walking down - or in - the street are just as guilty of contracting the asshole flu as anyone else.
I love cars in general. I think they can be beautiful pieces of engineering, design, style, speed, and sometimes are like looking at sex personified. The right car can be an absolute thrill to drive, but they are also expensive and can kill on so many levels.
Bicycles are fun. I love the feeling of freedom I get when I slow poke pedal my way down a quiet street on a sunny day. I paid a high price learning to ride my bike as a small child - I lost the bottom row of my baby teeth all in one painful crash into a telephone pole because I tried not to run over the neighbor's dumb cat who had a hairball in place of a brain. Riding a bicycle is an immense feeling of accomplishment that a clumsy person like me doesn't get very often.
Going for a walk down any street in San Francisco is always a visual treat, even in the dirtiest and poorest places in town. There is never a lack of architecture to ogle and all the mini-dramas taking place all around are better than any reality tv show could dream of filming. It also exposes pedestrians to potential crimes, filthy streets (so bad if you dropped a $20 on the ground you would think twice about picking it up), and lots of smog/pollution/exhaust.
The problem is this - not only do I live in a weird busy city where odd things happen every second, I also live in the world's most opinionated place. There truly cannot be any other metropolis on the planet where perfect strangers constantly bombard you with their idea of how to live. This applies to everything from how to live your private life to bagging your groceries and driving/biking/walking. People driving cars have opinions about bicyclists and pedestrians, bicyclists have opinions about cars and pedestrians, and pedestrians just hate anyone with wheels, including mother's with strollers who are moving too slowly. These issues create a sort of social powder keg that is always on the verge of exploding.
Like most things in life, my problem with cars and bikes are the people who operate them. As with 99.999999999% of everything that is wrong on this planet, humanity is to blame. I have seen perfectly rational, caring people turn into raging homicidal maniacs behind the wheel of a car and those same people become stupid, anti-social, rule breaking idiots as soon as they get their butts planted on a bicycle seat. Why is that? Normally pleasant, law abiding citizens suddenly become foul mouthed Rambos when they go for a nice walk to their local cafe for a cup of soy-only, free range not cage fed hormone-less loved to death shot of joe. What is it about traffic that sets people off?
This week, that question became a more immediate, potentially deadly one. Some psychotic loco (redundant, I know) in a blue Nissan Rogue who appears to be from Berkeley but hasn't been arrested for some reason went on the rampage on Wednesday night and mowed down four bicyclists. If the guy really is from Berkeley, why did he come all the way across the Bay to San Francisco to run people over? There are just as many annoying bicyclists in his town to pick on - why travel for his kind of sicko fun?
I understand the urge to just lash out at someone who is in your way, making it difficult to get where you need to go. One reason I don't enjoy driving in cities is that someone is ALWAYS in your way and it is frustrating. I get why bicyclists run lights, hop up on sidewalks, and weave in and out of traffic - they do it because they can and it means they get where they are going faster. As a pedestrian, I am totally guilty of weaving in and out of people, zooming along. I can't stand having someone walking right in front of me. I understand, I get it, roger that over and out.
What I don't understand are drivers who endanger other people with their vehicles in their frustration or complete obliviousness to the world around them. I don't get bicyclists who zoom up on people and scream obscenities when the lady with a stroller and two meandering children can't get out of his way fast enough. Pedestrians who walk against lights or insist on crossing busy streets where there is no crosswalk leave me dumbfounded.
I don't know the man (the driver was described as a white male - a very comprehensive, helpful description, obviously) who ran over those bicyclists. I don't know what his beef was. I do know that he wove in and out of traffic, often zooming along on the wrong side of the street, and he put three people in the hospital, one in critical condition. I don't know anything about this guy but it doesn't matter. What he did was wrong. Who cares why?
There has been a lot of chatter in the last few days about the possible motivation behind this driver, but to me there isn't an acceptable one. I don't care if the driver had a bad day for any number of reasons. So what if a bicyclist cut him off earlier. Who gives a flying fudge what made this guy try to hurt other people? There is no explanation in the world that can excuse or explain what he did. What won't surprise me about this will be that in the end we learn he was a nice man with or without a family, who was quiet or not, who was friendly to his neighbors or kept to himself. He will be an average person just like you and me.
How can a guy who at the very least wanted to seriously hurt some people and maybe even wanted to kill someone be like you or me? Because I believe that all of us have been guilty of the urge to just lash out at whoever or whatever is pushing our last button at any given moment. The only difference between him and us is that he acted. He hit the accelerator and zoomed up that street and did what he wanted. I wonder if he felt good after it was over. I am afraid he felt great when it was happening.
I am not a hearts and flowers kind of person. I don't preach peace and love and unicorns to anyone. My only mantra in life is respect, something I am guilty of NOT always giving to people. This whole weird thing with the mad as a hatter driver taking out the bicyclists really got to me because I believe that respect is at the heart of the whole incident. I believe that every one of us has been guilty at some point of breaking a rule that allows us as a society to bump along together. It may have been a traffic rule or simply a customary rule of politeness, but we have done it. And we have all been the (un)lucky recipients of that same lack of respect. After a while, it gets to you. Suddenly, you are the raving lunatic foaming at the mouth and targeting people with your wrath.
Perhaps this crazy, wonderful city earns part of the blame. It is always rushing along and we are sucked into the tidal wave along with everyone else. Except, of course, that tidal wave is made up of us - all of us ordinary, busy, potential homicidal maniacs. Maybe biting our tongues and practicing the trite but true mantras of do unto others and if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all could help bring some social peace for a while, making it safe for everyone to travel on their way in their own fashion. A sappy thought, I know, but that doesn't make it wrong.
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