I forgot about this last night as I was writing but yesterday as I was walking back to the Takoma Park metro from the Rescue Shelter I saw something that I think could have possibly had some pretty significant consequences for one of the local public transit workers. As I walked south on North Capital Street I noticed a metro bus coming North towards me and for whatever reason I looked in at the driver and was absolutely stunned by what I saw. It could certainly not have been legal; I mean car drivers can’t do this in the district so how the hell would it be ok for a bus driver with possibly dozens of people’s lives in his hands to do it. The guy was sitting there with one hand on the wheel and the other holding his cell phone up to his ear chatting away on the phone… Something just seems wrong about this and should I have had the wherewithal to note the bus id number I might have reported this instance. I unfortunately just kind of watched in shock as the bus sped along it’s route.
When I ride my bike in the city there are often times (almost daily with the drivers around here) when some impatient car driving maniac decides I don’t belong on the road and starts honking at me until they get a chance to speed past me. (This is most often on 9th St NW coming south down next to the Convention Center). What really gets me the most though is that when I turn and take a look at the driver of said honking vehicle (read: flip the bird and possibly confer a word or two of wisdom their way), nine times out of ten they are talking with their cell phone to their ear (and driving either a Cadillac or a Lincoln Towncar).
Another thing that really gets me is when I nearly am taken out by a car, typically a cab but quite often police vehicles and other cars that have decided to make an illegal U-Turn right in front of me. That one is lots of fun.
This all just seems so wrong on so many levels; if nothing else of course these people should be happy I’m on a bike and not adding one more car to the mess of traffic this city calls infrastructure. I strongly believe that cities should be bike and public transport only; no crazy drivers with enflamed road rage and piss poor manors, just bikes, buses (with no cell phone talking drivers), metros, trolleys, pedestrians and maybe some cabs. Of course the day something like that takes place will be the day that greed and corruption will be gone from our government and big oil will no longer run our country (aka. Thirteen trillion years AFTER pigs fly).
No comments:
Post a Comment