4.16.2007
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I was going to write a post complaining about my roommate getting a jaywalking ticket on Dupont Circle, but that would be grossly inappropriate considering the news coming out of Blacksburg. Please keep Virginia Tech and its students (and the family members of its students) in your prayers. I can't even imagine the pain and horror that the campus must be going through.
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It would also be grossly inappropriate because people have been killed by metro busses this year.
ReplyDeleteMan, I was so happy with this post having zero comments.
ReplyDeleteThe people who are getting brained by buses had the light. They weren't jaywalking.
BURN.
~Rusty
Rusty, that's irrelevant. You can’t rail against Metro for their admittedly horrific negligence, then complain about your roommate’s irresponsible behavior…..especially in light of said Metro negligence. If your friend was hit by a Metro bus while jaywalking, exactly what would you have been blogging this week?
ReplyDeleteListen, I understand the irritation. Everyone jaywalks in every city in America, and everyone who gets a ticket for it is annoyed. (Quick aside: I got a jaywalking lecture from a cop once when I was in Hawaii, and there were - no joke - about 6 hookers on the block I was crossing from. Downtown, in a nightlife district, at maybe 10:00 PM. So I understand what a ticky-tack violation it is in light of real crime problems).
Still, it’s a completely avoidable violation, and a particularly foolish one in light of the safety of our streets, which you have been so vigilant to report on.
Do you actually disagree, Rusty??
*Please note, I am a jaywalking hypocrite, myself. But I wouldn't whine about it if/when I get ticketed.
I disagree mostly with your (assuming this is the same anonymous) contention that DC should focus more on jaywalkers when people crossing the street legally are being brained by buses.
ReplyDeleteDangerously jaywalking is stupid and should be ticketed. If there's no traffic, no harm, no foul.
~Rusty
At the risk of splitting hairs, I actually said nothing about D.C. ramping anything up.
ReplyDeleteMy contention is that it’s foolish to jaywalk, especially if Metro busses have been operating at a level reckless enough to put street-legal pedestrians at risk. And I contend that it’s silly for you to complain about it when you’ve devoted a lot of space to how dangerous Metro has made the streets.
I’ve lived here for a long time, yet I continue to step into traffic almost every time I jaywalk at Dupont and Thomas Circles (especially at the Mass Ave ends of both circles). There never appears to be traffic coming, yet there usually is. It shouldn’t be hard to prevent this, but apparently I’m kind of dumb an impatient, like a lot of people here.
Listen, I fully accept that there are a lot of crappy aspects to life in D.C. What I can’t stand is this attitude that even when you do something stupid and avoidable – like jaywalking -- somehow its D.C.’s fault when you get caught. It is such a good metaphor for the unaccountable attitudes that so many unhappy people have about their unhappy lives in this town.
I expect that from James -- because he was a total loser -- but not from you Rusty.
Rusty is a Douche......
ReplyDeleteI agree, if you are dumb enough to step into the crosswalk while a cop is right there...you deserve a ticket. Yes, it is breaking the law...big deal. I'm not on the bandwagon that "cops got better things to do" but they should at least do what they are expected to do: protect the public. I sit 8 floors up, over starbucks in Dupont. Most days I watch as a big cop stands there on 18th and N, dishing out tickets (here's here now!).
ReplyDeleteBut, this is merely a revenue generating scam by the district. Plain and simple. He is here, next to starbucks, busting only guys in ties, women in suits, generally not so threatening folks. He lets people jaywalk on every one of the other 6 crosswalks within his view, to include people with their strollers, headsets, and little kids in their arms. He isn't protecting anyone, he's merely a guy w/ a gun and radio, generating 250/hr for the government, nothing more. If he was really trying to uphold the law on this corner, he would do it on every corner within his eye shot. He gives out tickets and people behind him simply walk past, jaywalking...The offender, who is busted points, shouts says "hey look they doing it too" but he cares not...just head down..writing tickets. he calls people back in the middle of the intersection, causing them to stop, try to comprehend, and spend at least 3-5 seconds in the intersection. Is This protecting the public or generating revenue without any regards for safety?
It drizzled a little today. and the minute the drops came, he ran into his car until the drops stopped coming. Now he's back, o..and some sedan just blew by at 50 mph in the 25mph that 18th street is...