My latest trip to the TJ’s lasted no longer than two shakes of a lamb’s tail. And yet, I saw a ton of people park on the south side of Masonic only to run or walk across the busy six-lane freeway substitute to get to the store on the north side.
Why do people do this? Well, because the line for parking can be twenty cars long. And also because shoppers can’t head north or east after driving out of the parking lot.
Here’s how it works, it’s just like a game of Frogger excepting that you’re the frog.
The telltale bag:
Here’s another. (The fence is for the MUNI Yard at Masonic and Geary)
It seemed like one person was making this crossing every couple minutes when I was there.
Now, do the people at TJ’s #100 know about this?
Well, how could they not?
Now, do the people at TJ’s do anything about this?
I don’t know. Doesn’t appear that way.
All right, the girls are still shopping so let’s go up to the roof to see Dude (no that’s not his Mercedes, that some other jaywalker’s)…
…but oh no, this gal’s doing the same thing at the same time…
…and now back to Dude, wise choice, man…
…and let’s go back to the gal, she see’s an opening, she could go all the way:
I mean, this is ten seconds worth of action in four shots.
This is a target-rich environment.
So, why doesn’t Trader Joe’s have a proper parking lot, you know, one that has a chance of accommodating all the shoppers?
I don’t know.
Did the City and County expect cars to whither away by now, you know, “Peak Oil is coming in 2005″ so let’s get ready for that?
Did the rich white homeowners in the area go full NIMBY back when plans were originally being drawn up?
Did TJ’s actually have a plan for shoppers to park on the roof or in some underground parking garage?
I don’t know.
Who will be the next to die?
I don’t know.
Now let’s hear from Reader RMS: “I shop, as well as drive by hear almost on a daily basis–and it never ends. Cars hang u-turns, cross the double lines, pedestrians/shoppers run and sometimes slowly walk across to go to TJ’s without a thought. I actually drove by there at the time of the unfortunate death of that women. It’s exactly as you stated, the hill, the speed limit but people choose to take their chances because it’s more convenient than having to go into the parking lot or go the actual cross walk, they can’t be bothered–sad. Has Trader Joe’s made any comments or contributed any ideas on passing the message to their customers?”
Here’s how some people cross six lanes of Masonic at Ewing Terrace:
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Now, is this kind of thing legal? Well sure, if you’re walking – this could be one of those unmarked crosswalk deals.
But it’s not legal to cross here if you’re running. Sorry pedestrian.
(Our FUBARed beyond all reason SFMTA has a plan to put a traffic light in here whenever it can get its grand mal Masonic Street Design off the ground.)
Now a little further up the hill, we lost a ped who was similarly jaywalking earlier this year. I guess we could blame accidents like that the 30 MPH speed limit in front of Trader Joe’s, but that’s not how I’d look at it.
I’d look at it by trying to get inside the peds’ heads to try to think of a way to get them to not kill themselves.
Oh well.
“Masonic Avenue Street Design Study
Engineering hearing on proposed changes, May 13, 2011
Masonic Street Redesign Study final report (PDF)
The survey results from the third community meeting, held on September 30, 2010, at San Francisco Day School (PDF), are available.
About the Project
The primary goal of the Masonic Avenue Street Design Study is to identify how Masonic Avenue between Geary Boulevard and Fell Street can safely and efficiently accommodate the needs of all roadway users, including but not limited to pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and Muni. The project is funded by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority through the Prop K half-cent local transportation sales tax program.
Objectives:
1. Engage representatives of all constituencies within the community who would be impacted by changes to Masonic Avenue including, but not limited to, residents on Masonic Avenue, residents on side-streets, merchants, school representatives, bicyclists, Muni customers and pedestrians.
2. Improve transit operation.
3. Improve pedestrian and non-motorized access to transit.
4. Increase the safety of pedestrian crossings.
5. Increase motorist compliance with traffic rules and regulations.
6. Reduce the number of vehicular collisions, especially those involving pedestrians and bicyclists.
7. Support neighborhood vitality by creating a more inviting and accommodating public realm.
Community meeting presentations
The following presentations from the various community meetings are available from the San Francisco Planning Department website:
First community meeting presentation, June 15, 2010, Day School, PDF, 7MB Second community meeting presentation, Aug. 10, 2010, Day School, PDF, 7MB Third community meeting presentation, Sept. 30, 2010, Day School, PDF, 6MB
James Shahamiri 415.701.4732 james.shahamiri@sfmta.com
[UPDATE: Attention nerdy white engineering types / transit activists who have some connection with Strava, Inc / Chris Bucherre / Kim Flynt. It's too bad that your NVIDIA co-worker / cycling buddy /KOM competitor / team $pon$or killed somebody / got killed / got sued but I don't really have anything to do with that. Feel free to call me a "dumbass" for revealing that people (paralegals? associates? concerned investors?) at the O'Melveny(sp?) law firm Google such search terms like "STRAVA lawsuit" and "STRAVA vicarious liability" and whatnot - that's your right as Americans. Feel free to band together on the Twitter and rap about how you white engineering types / transit activists are getting effed, somehow, yet again. But dudes, you gots ta chill. Take the emotion down a bit, why not? And think, maybe after Strava is gone, whenever that is, your cycling teams can get funding from somebody else, right? I said that Strava might get sued and you all pooh poohed that. And of course Strava got sued (you know, for wrongful death, right on sked, right before the statute, IN ADDITION to other stuff, like IP patent stuff from before). And I said that Chris Bucchere, the man what made some Mission Cycling members ashamed of their jerseys, might do hard time for the death of Sutchi Hui and you all pooh poohed that as well. And of course Chris Bucchere just might do hard time. But look above and see that this post is directed to the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, not to you macho white engineering types / transit activists, you dig? The SFBC feels that it has some power over cyclists. The SFBC feels that cyclists have already cleaned up their acts in response to the recent cyclist-caused ped deaths. The SFBC hectors people about stopping before you hit the start of the crosswalk and/or the stop line. And I'm showing them how maybe they're not 100% always right about everything they say. That's all.]
Just one problem with Market Street’s excessively-wide crosswalks is that people need to stop far away from intersections, sometimes even behind stop lines.
So what cyclists tend to do at red lights on Market is to weasel past the stop line and through the crosswalk so as to be ready for the green.
As here, on Market at Third Street:
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Now this kind of behavior is contrary to the party line of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.
To wit:
“On a daily basis, be a bicycle ambassador by being a great representative of San Francisco’s amazing, diverse and growing community of people who bicycle. Stop behind the crosswalk, give pedestrians the right-of-way and others will follow.”
And this is in the post-Bucchere, high-enforcement world of 2012.
You talk about safety for all but then tell pedestrians absolutely false statements about how they Always Have The Right Of Way – is that responsible behavior?
And you think that The Media is your problem, SFBC? Sure seems that way, based upon what you say.
And then when you die, your mangled shopping cart or grocery bag (empty or full) will be evidence that you parked on the east side of Masonic in order to shop at the TJ’s* on the west side of Masonic.
Anyway, as you can see, there’s no place to hide.
30 MPH speed limit plus the curves plus the hill = dangerous:
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Now, does SFGov care about this situation?
Not really.
Who’ll be the next TJ’s shopper to die?
*You know, Store #100, where former Mayor Gavin Newsom used to shop, wearing a suit(!), back when he was “in” “rehab,” sort of.
She was crossing like this guy was doing yesterday:
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If this is how pedestrians are going to behave, should there be a crosswalk with a light, you know, so people can get to their cars parked across the street because:
1. the actual parking lot for this particular TJ’s is almost always full during the times most people shop, and
2. the people driving up from areas in the south can’t turn into the parking lot anyway as northbound traffic isn’t allowed to left into the parking lot.
Now realize the current situation is already the second stab at a fix, since the line of idling cars that now queue up in the right lane of Masonic used to line up in the middle lane, leaving just one lane for traffic.
“Of course, everybody needs to be on the lookout for all the Frogger-like jaywalkers carrying their groceries across six lanes of parked and moving cars. (Somebody is going to get hit one of these days.)”
What’s wrong with San Francisco?
Is the problem the NIMBY residents of nearby Ralph Waldo Emerson Street, you know, the people who don’t want their Inner Richmond Way of Life interrupted by food shoppers? I don’t know.
But why can’t TJ’s shoppers park on the roof of the TJ’s? There’s a parking lot up there, of course.
Anyway, I think the people who planned the parking situation are still around and I think that they are to blame.
Are they apologetic for what they’ve created?
I don’t know.
Actually, they’re probably still patting themselves on the back and giving each other awards, as they are wont to do.
Look, Gentle Reader, and see that the ped’s light is green. Do you have enough information?
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The answer is no you do not.
The answer is the ped would have been 100% at fault if the cyclist had ended up colliding with her. That’s CA law.
That’s the reason why the Chris Bucchere homicide investigators aren’t dwelling on whether he ran a red light just before killing pedestrian Sutchi Hui.
Look here, you can see the green light, the yellow light, the red light, the delay between the red light and the green WALK sign, and then finally, the green WALK sign:
Hey peds, guess what – you DON”T Always Have The Right Of Way.
People who tell you that you do always have the right of way are lying to you.
(For political reasons, I suppose.)
Now, who’s going to tell the peds of San Francisco to straighten up and fly right?
I don’t know, cyclists have the choice of stopping before the busy crosswalk near the Powell Cable Car turnaround or just blowing on through.
But what you shouldn’t do is stop in the middle of the crosswalk right when you happen to notice all the cops around, as one person does here.
And oh, at the beginning of this short video, dude coming south on Cyril Magnin (aka North Fifth Street) gets yelled at by a city worker in a white pickup for waiting to illegally turn left to get to inbound Market:
Do you know the rules of being a pedestrian? Most people don’t. Most people think, and not without good reason, that:
“PEDESTRIANS ALWAYS HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY.”
But this is a false statement.
Peds, you can’t go across crosswalks:
1. Too Fast (that means no running into a crosswalk);
2. Too Slow (that means you can’t hang out and stand around or do jumping jacks or whathaveyou);
3. Too Early (that means you have to let the intersection clear of cars bikes buses etc EVEN IF YOUR LIGHT JUST TURNED GREEN – I’m srsly, it’s The Law in California); or
4. Too Late (that means when you see the red DON’T WALK signal flashing or you see a yellow light shining, basically)
Here’s a recent example of too late, on Market Street.
Do you see? The cyclist, who stopped properly at his stop line on outbound Market in the Financh, had the time to to wait for his green and make it across the intersection only to be blocked by these sauntering peds. Why? Because they entered their crosswalk too late, that’s why. (Do you think the SFPD officer camera left stopped to hand out citations? No, why would he, it’s not really his job to give out tickets to late-night peds. Also, note where the cyclist’s left hand is, stuck out as a warning.)
Click to expand
This kind of thing is the reason why each San Francisco car vs. ped death so far in 2012 has been the fault of the pedestrian him or herself.
And yet, the only solution San Francisco’s governmental and quasi-governmental organizations have to offer for ped death is infrastructure ”improvement.” It’s the only implement in their toolbox.
Are these 2012 “Rules of the Road” posted anywhere? I don’t know.
Anyway, leave us begin:
“Pedestrians Always Have the Right of Way.”
UH, NOPE. THIS IS EXACTLY WRONG IN CALIFORNIA* AND THIS IS THE KIND OF BAD ATTITUDE THAT GETS PEOPLE KILLED. (I DON’T KNOW IF DRIVERS IN SAN FRANCISCO ARE ANY WORSE THAN THE U.S. AVERAGE, BUT PEDESTRIANS IN THE 415 ARE _MUCH_ WORSE THAN AVERAGE. RIVALING BERKELEY’S. IF I WERE GIVING THEM ADVICE IN A PUBLIC FORUM, I’D TELL THEM TO STRAIGHTEN UP AND FLY RIGHT. I WOULDN’T TELL THEM A FALSEHOOD ABOUT CA LAW TO MAKE THEM FEEL GOOD ABOUT THEIR BAD BEHAVIOR.)
In the crosswalk or not, bike riders and drivers are required to yield to pedestrians. (CVC 21954 (b))”
UH, NOPE.** IF YOU MEAN TO SAY THAT DRIVERS SHOULD USE DUE CARE FOR THE SAFETY OF EVEN THE CRAZIEST PEDESTRIAN, THEN YOU’D BE ACCURATELY BE PARAPHRASING THE CITED CODE. BUT CALIFORNIA LAW IS SPECIFICALLY WRITTEN* TO STATE THAT PEDESTRIANS DO NOT “ALWAYS HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY.” TO REVIEW, IF YOU ARE A PED IN A CROSSWALK, MARKED OR UNMARKED, OR NEAR ENOUGH (SOMETIMES CLOSE IS CLOSE ENOUGH), AND YOU DIDN’T START TOO EARLY (THAT MEANS THAT YOU WAITED FOR TRAFFIC TO CLEAR THE INTERSECTION AFTER YOUR “WALK” LIGHT LIT UP) AND YOU DIDN’T START TOO LATE (LIKE WHEN THE WAIT LIGHT STARTS FLASHING), THEN, CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY. IF NOT, THEN YOU DON’T. SORRY. THAT’S WHY WHEN YOU GET KILLED BY A MUNI BUS ON HAYES STREET BY JAYWALKING LIKE WHAT JUST HAPPENED, THE DRIVER INVOLVED DOESN’T GET PUNISHED. THE REASON IS THAT YOU DIDN’T HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY. DOES THAT MEAN THAT DRIVERS HAVE A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY TO RUN YOU OVER ON PURPOSE WHEN YOU’RE JAYWALKING? NO IT DOES NOT.
Stop Behind the Crosswalk. Leave crosswalks free and clear for pedestrians. Always stop behind the line. (CVC 21950, 21455)
UH, HOW ABOUT IN FRONT OF OR AHEAD OF OR BEFORE THE CROSSWALK INSTEAD?
Stay on the Streets. It is illegal and unsafe to ride on the sidewalk if you are over the age of 13. (SF Transportation Code Sec. 7.2.12)
UH, ON SOME SIDEWALKS IT’S OK FOR ADULTS TO RIDE A BIKE, IT JUST DEPENDS. AND WHY IS IT “UNSAFE” FOR A 14-YEAR-OLD TO RIDE ON THE SIDEWALK BUT NOT A 13-YEAR-OLD?
Go With the Flow. Ride the same direction as traffic. Walk your bike on the sidewalk if you find yourself on the wrong block of a one-way street. (CVC 21650)
IRL, THIS IS MERELY ADVISORY IN SAN FRANCISCO. YOU COULD RIDE YOUR BIKE IN THIS FASHION ON A DAILY BASIS FOR DECADES AND NOT GET CITED FOR THIS.
Mind the Signs and Lights. Stop at stop signs and obey red lights, just like all other vehicles. (CVC 21200)
IRL, THIS IS MERELY ADVISORY IN SAN FRANCISCO. YOU COULD RIDE YOUR BIKE IN THIS FASHION ON A DAILY BASIS FOR DECADES AND NOT GET CITED FOR THIS.
Light up the Night! Reflectors and a front white light are required by law. We recommend you use a rear light as well. (CVC 21201)
WELL, _NOW_ YOU’RE TALKING. AGREE.
Take the Lane. Whether you’re next to parked cars, or there are hazards in the bike lane, if you feel safer, take the lane and ride outside the door zone. (CVC 21202)
THIS IS A SUBJECTIVE STANDARD UNSUPPORTED BY CALIFORNIA LAW. OH WELL.
It’s OK to Leave the Bike Lane. If you feel safer outside the bike lane, you can ride in other vehicle travel lanes. (CVC 21208)
MEH. SO WHY HAVE BIKE LANES THEN? I’LL TELL YOU, THE CALIFORNIA VEHICLE CODE DOESN’T REALLY DEAL WITH “FEELINGS” AT ALL, IRL.
Be a Friend to Disabled Neighbors. Sometimes people with disabilities need access to the curb. Paratransit carriers (including taxis) may have to enter the bikeway to drop them off. Be a good neighbor and give them room. (SFMTA Policy)
REALLY? I NEED TO CHECK TO SEE IF THE PERSON COMING OUT OF A CAB IS MY “DISABLED NEIGHBOR” BEFORE I DECIDE TO “GIVE THEM ROOM” OR NOT? THAT SOUNDS A LITTLE CRAY-CRAY, DOESN’T IT? MAYBE I’LL JUST GO AROUND PARKED TAXIS AS ANY SENSIBLE PERSON WOULD DO?
So there you have it.
Maybe they’ll get it right next year…
*”Every pedestrian upon a roadway at any point other than within a marked crosswalk or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles upon the roadway so near as to constitute an immediate hazard.”
**”The provisions of this section shall not relieve the driver of a vehicle from the duty to exercise due care for the safety of any pedestrian upon a roadway.”
