Comments

4

Until your 30 what?

5

Do you mean Berkeley, in CA? or Berklee College of Music in Boston? or what?

6

If it say Berkely on your degree your not as well educated as you think you are?

9

Seattle has the weirdest in city traffic patterns I've ever seen. 60 percent rational normal drivers, 25 percent old school purple fleece Subaru-ers (in various types of cars) who appear to be completely uninterested in getting to where they're going, 15 percent ultra-aggressive transplants exploding with frustration and swerving around like maniacs.

Just yesterday I was behind a purple fleecer who stopped in the middle of a two lane arterial block for a kid waiting to jaywalk, and waved the kid across. An aggro transplant traveling at close to freeway speed came flying up behind the purple fleecer and slid out to pass us. I laid on my horn and screamed as loud as I could inside my car, a gut reaction but to little effect. The horn though got the kid's head up and she stopped, just in time, her long black hair fluttering in the draft of the speeding aggro who nearly killed her. Totally a heart in the throat moment.

Both drivers fucked up - fleecer for making traffic unpredictable for not doing what she was supposed to (keep driving), aggro dick for speeding and not slowing to recognize there was something happening and that the city street isn't a perfect race car video game, but rather a usually imperfect situation. The young pedestrian should have crossed at the corner, and certainly shouldn't have let someone else make the choice to cross the street at that moment for her. But it would be awesome if we could all drive in ways that then don't make the penalty for that kid's mistake death or life in assisted living.

Anyway, hopefully the lower speed limit does something to help. But for sure there is essentially zero enforcement, and what little enforcement there is seems to be targeted at most easily making money, not curbing the most dangerous behaviors. If the PD gave a fuck they'd enforce against drivers who don't stop for pedestrians at intersections, crosswalk or not. Seen too many close calls and people lying in the street this year. I'm sure the bridge and tunnel trolls feel that this is all anti-car bullshit, but the vast majority of us who live in the city drive in the city, walk in the city, and ride bikes in the city. We see it from all perspectives, and this is our home. Absolutely nothing wrong with with trying to avoid tragedies that could potentially visit ourselves, our loved ones, our neighbors. Lower speed limits and meaningful enforcement are not so much anti-car as pro this place is our home.

10

@7 nuh uh its Berkley (Colege of Arts and Online Komplaning)

The Cheeseburger Cat is a Vise Probost. Look it up.

11

I don't know why this happened, but it became very popular parenting style in the 70's to not teach your children anything. You left that the the state and the school, because I guess otherwise you would have to spend time with your kids, and that would get in the way of their natural experience of "finding themselves." People did a hell of a lot of drugs in the 70s.

This led to lots of kids not only having no idea how to operate independently in the world, it also made them uncomfortable with doing anything but following orders. These kids then did the same to their own, and the cycle continues.

The end result are young people who have no life skills, but tons of poorly thought out opinions which they were ordered to believe. They fill college campuses and comment threads with constant whining about their outrage that other people are thinking and living independently. They are the same people who are protesting in front of the library because they are confused and outraged how someone inside is allowed to have a different worldview than them.

14

Three E's. "B-E-R-K-E-L-E-Y".

15

Maybe if the boomers hadn't cut funding for home-ec classes in high school once they got through them, we wouldn't need to be teaching these skills in college.

16

Meanwhile BC is bringing online 15 all-electric planes, and it's not even news here, even though they fly over our state.

17

I rolled through a red light getting onto Aurora Ave recently, didn’t see the cop already backed up on the ave. He saw me, gave me a grin and drove on.

Bigger fish to fry I suppose.

22

For those pouting about lack of police enforcement, please consider that your esteemed city council robbed overtime pay from SPD for expenditures deemed worthier.

25

It seems like there’s an ongoing attempt to influence Seattle drivers to give up cars, while failing to offer adequate alternatives. Road diets and way under utilized bike lanes have already slowed traffic to a ridiculous pace. (Bike lanes may be great for those able and committed to ride their bikes uphill on cold, rainy days and their employers provide showers and bike parking spots. I used to bike to work when I could but not able to do so anymore due to distance and aging knees. The number of bikers is not substantial enough, and probably will never be, to offer any real relief to our congestion-growing metropolitan.)

The latest speed restrictions may work to some degree though. When traffic was reduced to 25 in some areas couple of years ago I was shocked to find how many people actually obey it.

26

@20 yes, much faster.

27

Maybe the pigeon hat thing is Art, like the $120,000 banana and the stolen gold toilet (which is probably melted down by now, RIP).

28

@25: Indeed. And just because there's a bike lane doesn't mean that cars can always safely pass by bikers in those "lanes" -- hence holding up traffic.

29

Random shootings are active measures. Never go numb to them. If you do, then nobody will blink when people start lining up others against the wall and shooting them.

31

Great comments, Clara T.

Also -- "There will also be an increase in enforcement with Seattle police officers donning regular clothes and crossing streets to see who does and doesn't yield to pedestrians. It's a Vision Zero (no traffic deaths by 2030) crackdown, and I bet drivers are gonna fume!"

I bet some are, too.

The "undercover" cops might fume a little themselves, when they encounter a psycho behind the wheel as they stroll thru the City, who will not. ever. yield., not when the Weight advantage is so wonderfully one-sided. Will they whip out their pistol and shoot up the car or, more likely, massive pickup in its advert-endorsed/therefore Gawd-given quest for X-Treme Highway Dominance? What if the driver's not Black?

33

@32: Isn't MAGA now KAG?

35

There are some old motherfuckers on here. I don't mean physically, but mentally. Just real bitter, hateful towards the young, and basically completely uncritical about their own "values." It must suck to be so ossified.

36

32: Score one for the Morons Against Good Administration

37

@30
I'd go for that!
No cars. Bus travel only, and safe bike travel everywhere!
Imagine the reduction in high blood pressure and diabetes if everyone biked and walked!!

38

May want to bring up menopause when teaching them about “Adulting”..

I’m actually looking forward to the breakdowns.

39

"Adulting" classes"

More evidence that American parents are total failures at teaching their children how to survive. They rely, instead, on the schools to teach the life skills they should be teaching.

Meanwhile they vote down taxes that would fund the life education they expect the schools to provide as well as complain bitterly about the teachers who do try to teach their kids something about real life.

No wonder the US is is such a sorry state today. If you don't have the time or inclination to teach your children how to be self-reliannt, responsible people, please don't have them.

40

If we’ve had six years of less than 30 inches rain in the past 74 years, that averages once every 15 years. Since the last one was 19 years ago seems like we were overdue for a very dry year. Not sure we can peg this one on climate change.

41

@30 I guess you haven't seen many Russian dash cam videos. Plenty of people walking right into cars traveling at zero.

42

@37 "No cars. Bus travel only"

For a preview of a world of bus riders, stand at the 3rd Avenue entrance to the King County courthouse and watch.


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