During my time in South Lake Union, I have seen three bicyclists slide their front wheels into the trolley tracks, lose control, and fly over their handlebars into a bloody wreck.

Late one night, I saw a car swerve across lanes and crash into a metal utility pole. When I ran to help the couple, expecting them to be drunk, I was surprised to discover they were sober.

"What happened?" I asked. "Why'd you wreck?"

He smiled. She blushed.

Ah, I thought, blowjob-in-transit.

Most frighteningly, I saw a pedestrian step into an uncontrolled intersection, causing a few speeding cars to hammer on their brakes. One couldn't quite stop and bumped the daredevil pedestrian.

Dear Seattle drivers, whenever a pedestrian is waiting to cross the street at an uncontrolled intersection, you are legally obligated to stop. It is not optional. You will be cited for the infraction.

Dear pedestrians, don't assume that cars are going to stop. Most drivers have no idea they're supposed to. And yet every day in South Lake Union, I see pedestrians step into the intersection with equal parts stupidity and faith in their fellow human beings.

It reminds me of my cousin who, on a dark reservation highway, drove without braking into a deer.

"I flashed my brights at it," he said. "I thought it saw me and was going to move."