Sure the icy sidewalks and roads are a nuisance, but not as much of a nuisance as the speeding bus of death that killed two Alexandria women.
The two women were on Seventh Street NW in the Penn Quarter neighborhood and had the "walk" signal to cross Pennsylvania Avenue when a northbound bus turned left onto the avenue about 6:40 p.m., said Lisa Farbstein, a Metro spokeswoman.
This is unbelievable. Either a train is hitting some track workers on the Yellow Line or someone gets plowed over by the H8 bus on 16th and Park. Whatever it is, it's becoming all too common. I mean, I complain all the time about the Metro being soul-crushing. But soul-crushing is way better than organ crushing. Organs are tangible. I like my organs. I shouldn't have to worry about them everytime I cross the fucking street.
(h/t to Toby for directing me towards the story.)
2.15.2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Six years ago I saw a freshly mowed-down body in Adams Morgan. Fortunately, someone had already covered the victim w/ a sheet before the paramedics arrived.
ReplyDeleteYou gotta watch your ass, even w/ the sign.
I hope the families sue the shit out of Metro. At least that way I know my metro fare will be going to something justifiable.
ReplyDeleteThirty-five-fucking-minnute wait for a metro train at cleveland park today, Rusty. Fuck metro, busses and all.
I enjoy driving into the city now from Virginia and have absolutely no complaints about the traffic. I listen to my music on a kickass stereo system and the adjust the heat to my preference.
ReplyDeleteBy and large, my fellow commuters and I are mature and well-behaved. No one ever honks or flips the one-fingered salute.
We are a nation grateful that we don't have to take the damn subway or bus. Just WAIT until you can afford a rusty car of your own.
I resigned myself to the fact that they'll never yield for pedestrians when they're supposed to. But I refuse to give up the fight for being safe on the sidewalk. I can't count the number of times I had to leap out of the way of busses cutting corners right over sidewalks. How they don't kill even more people is beyond me.
ReplyDeleteI happen to live near the Metro bus depot in Ballston. There have been many, many times where me or someone I was watching crossed the street (with a walk signal/right of way) only to have a Metrobus charge out and try to beat them across the intersection. In once instance, I was about halfway across the street when out of the corner of my eye I saw a bus start to charge right out in front of me, and when it pulled into view, the driver was holding out their hand in front of me as if to say "no, I'm crossing first, right of way and/or your safety be damned." If they can prove driver negligence and not weather as a factor, I really hope the driver gets slapped with a vehicular manslaughter charge. Maybe that'll send a message to Metro to get their drivers to be more careful!
ReplyDeleteI'm actually surprised this doesn't happen more often than it does. I see a general disregard for human life in DC drivers. I can't tell you how many times I've had to stop short in front of a driveway to let a car go by. And that's after I've looked to see if someone was coming out so, imagine how fast they were going. And then, of course, the driver looks at me like I'm inconveniencing him/her.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, I'm from L.A., but you people in DC cannot drive.
Two things missing from this story - (1) a picture of the Mayor there, while you all complain about how he cares too much or not at all, and it's just for publicity and (2) the first commenter saying we shouldn't care about the victims because they were from Virginia.
ReplyDeleteCall me when these comments get made. You guys are slipping.
either its a train, bus, car, taxi, bike or segway..DC is FUBAR!
ReplyDeleteHas there been a day this week when Metro wasn't fucked up one way or another? Tuesday and Thursday on the Yellow line we had delays thanks to some track troubles and the mysterious "sick passenger" respectively. Can't wait for this crap to melt off my bike trail so I can get away from all you sneezing, coughing, pole-hugging, doorway-standing, left-side-of-the- escalator-standing freaks.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100% with the dude above me.
ReplyDeleteMOVE TO THE CENTER OF THE TRAIN, MOTHER FUCKERS!
...Toby is HOT
ReplyDeleteEh, he's alright.
I've heard somewhere that they're trying to make DC pedestrian-friendly...that cannot come too quickly at all. I'm tired of worrying about being run down by some poor-driving fools.
Golden Silence, you have beautiful eyes!
ReplyDeleteSee, I thought this post was going to be about how this fucking city doesn't plow its roads and how every single gutter is filled with slush, three days after the storm. And by not plowing, I don't mean just sidestreets, I mean fucking Mass Ave, which had huge piles of snow in the middle of it on Thursday.
ReplyDeletei believe mr. john said "we dont have the money, but we will find the money...somehow" on the new safety training.
ReplyDeletei mean, thats cool and all, but at least the board is pushing for those square tiles!
*rolls eyes*
good lord.
The stadium luuuuvs you! smoooch
ReplyDeleteSee us gettin' crane-y with it here: http://clarkconstruction.oxblue.com/clarkhuntsmoot/
Yaaay stadium!
If you want to bitch about poor bus drivers and shitty public transportation, I have no problem with that. But perhaps you should reconsider renaming your blog "Why I Hate Urban Areas." Nothing about this tragic story is unique to DC. People get hit by cars and buses everywhere. Subway and train service is a pain everywhere it exists (at least in the US; Europe seems to have it down pretty well).
ReplyDeleteNow the LSS and LNS stuff, douchebaggery unique to DC, that is on topic.
16th and Park? Dead hipsters?
ReplyDeleteToby may be HOT but Toby is also very GAY. I remember watching him dancing shirtless over at Velvet Nation's closing weekend celebration. He was grinding it and rubbing up against another man. SORRY ladies. Toby is not on the market if you do not have facial hair along with a very strong muscular physique.
ReplyDeleteLooks like someone else was killed by a Metro bus.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/18/AR2007021800067.html
BTW, I've always been in love with Toby, but I'm too fat for him.
Toby, ghey? Why, I would have never have known! Thanks for putting it out, Captain Obvi.
ReplyDeleteI almost get run over by a bus at the intersection of M and New Hampshire near Dupont everyday. The buses never look before they turn left at high speed. I'll be halfway across when they just start speeding toward me.
ReplyDeleteConsidering your post - I got a kick out of this site -- cool logo too:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cafepress.com/metrobuskills
also of interest to those who hate the M:
ReplyDeletewww.metro-sucks.blogspot.com
http://www.slate.com/id/2159995/
ReplyDelete