July 12, 2007
SFist Photo: Fell and Masonic Deathtrap Revisited
Respect my AUTHORITAH! A volunteer crossing guard gets all in the grill of a local hospital worker and her blue-ish car. She had little respect for his stop sign, but she didn't run him over, so that's a good thing.
We've taken a closer look at this area since the San Francisco Bicycle Coaltion's recent press conference. The always entertaining Steven T. Jones gave his point of view on the matter, only to be mocked as a "card carrying bike nut" by local gadfly Rob Anderson. Mercy!
So what's the deal? Can a few simple changes increase safety? See you after the jump.
Here's how it's supposed to work: a vehicle in the left lane of Fell turns left at Masonic (making sure to stay on the right side of that curved white line) without hitting anybody in the crosswalk.
Here's the problem: the crosswalk is part of a Class 1 Bike Path through the Golden Gate Park Panhandle, so there's lots of cyclists and joggers around. The driver in this car properly yielded, but some do not.
So here's our advice: crane your neck around thusly to see what's coming every time. Just think to yourself,"They're trying to kill me!" Driver negligence appears to be the main problem at this intersection.
Here's an illustration of the problem, looking from the other direction. Famous local "Ringo" heels over her hot pink Austrian moped and zips on through. That's a failure to yield right there because the cyclist in blue was forced to stop for motorized cross traffic. That's what we're talking about. Bad form, Ringo. Also note the red Nissan taking up half the crosswalk. This unusual intersection CAN be a little confusing even to drivers who try paying attention.
This stretched wheelbase Mercedes properly displays the "Jonesy" scenario of northbound traffic blocking the crosswalk.
Here's another issue: when northbound cars don't sit in the crosswalk, then the left turners from Fell cheat a bit thusly. People using the crosswalk don't really expect traffic to come at them at this part of the crosswalk. The line shows drivers the way to go, but it's routinely ignored.
This cyclist shows good technique with the neck craning but is she crossing Masonic too late? Claims adjusters at some insurance companies would say yes. Do bike riders assume the risk of getting hurt when they are on a "recreational" or "wilderness trail"? This is not entirely clear.
So what's the solution? Will putting up a dedicated left turn arrow help? Would that idea cause more accidents on Fell? How about them Safe Hit posts that helped out a lot on Octavia? Putting them in the median of Masonic just north of the crosswalk would teach the lazy turners a lesson, right?
Alright, but how about thinking outside the box? Moving the bike trail so it's closer or farther away from the intersection? Banning left turns from Fell onto Masonic? Paving over Masonic and making the recreational trail a real recreational trail?
Is it true, as that other famous Ringo said, "Everything government touches turns to crap"? Let's hope not cuz we need a some attention here. Creative ideas and a little money from the govmint - that's what we need.
[Update: Thanks for all your comments. Legally, the volunteers could be considered "street workers" (such as constructioneers and therefore entitled to more attention from drivers), pedestrians (because they are "afoot") or the equivalent of Frank Chu wandering around an intersection with a sign. It's not clear how they are authorized, if at all.
Just because you are outside of a crosswalk does not necessarily mean you are fair game - sometimes being close enough to a crosswalk is good enough when CA courts look at these issues.
The jogger is indeed facing a countdown timer with 10 seconds left (even though it might look like 0 seconds left). If he got hit by a car, we don't know the legalities. Could end up being a joint liability thing since the jogger crossed against the ped light. We don't know the legal history of the accidents at this location.
We don't know if cyclists need to walk their bikes over the crosswalk. It sounds ridiculous, but who knows.]
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I live right near there and really like the separate turn arrow and bike/ped traffic light idea. Banning left turns altogether would not work as there would be counterproductive as cars would ignore the ban and/or take long trips via side streets to get through.
You don't need to be a card carrying bike nut to want fewer crashes!
Acck!!! Please ignore "there would be counterproductive" above.
Dedicated left turn for the cars makes the most sense to me as a former panhandle resident. Those bikes come through there so quickly it's impossible for the cars to see them coming and have to faux yield just to see who is going to enter the intersection in the next few seconds.
Plus, it's the cheapest solution!
Wow! Great action shot with the car vs. crossing guard confrontation. I just imagined a follow-up shot with the car continuing through the intersection with the crossing guard hanging onto the hood and pounding on the windshield with the stop sign. That would be awesome.
Extraoridnary work, Jim. I love the photographic examples (including neck craning) for all the various permutations of this intersection.
Bikers/Walkers should start carrying clubs. That's the solution.
One less windshield.
Interesting photo with the crossing guard and the blue car. I'm a little suspicious of why the crossing guard (and his orange vested cronie) is standing at least three feet away from the crosswalk? I've never saw a crossing guard ever try to do his or her job outside of the crossing lines.
wait, you mean there is an intersection in SF where I can make a left turn?!?!?!
How about a raised crosswalk? Cars would be forced to slow down to go over it. Make it a bright color so it stands out and with some embedded lights (like they have on Polk in front of City Hall) that blink when the peds have the crosswalk light.
"Respect my AUTHORITAH!" - Absolutely perfect caption! I can't stop laughing at it!
The solution is to stencil BEWARE! DEATH MONSTERS AHEAD! on the bike path.
But I do like the raised crossing idea, except it will be torn to pieces in weeks by the cars coming down Masonic and bottoming-out.
Maybe we need those tweety bird noises they have at crossings in the 'burbs. Or Gendarmes.
Nice article, Jim. Your photos clearly illustrate all the problems going on here.
Left turn lane (maybe 2 of them)...left arrow. Also, mini-speed humps on the bike path, so bicyclists will slow down! Further, they should put a second pedestrian/bicycle signal before you get to masonic, so it's a lot more visible to the cyclists.
Now, that crossing guard jumping on the stopped car in the picture...I remember when the crossing guards were posted there. The idea was great but the excecution horrible. I saw on at least one occasion, where the crossing guard went out when the light (for crossing) was RED and tried to stop a car so a bike could cross against the light.
Oh, and the neck-craning... didn't we all learn as a kid to look left-right-left before you cross an intersection? Aren't both neck-craners above trying to cross when the counter is on zero? Or is the jogger's on 10?
Oh and that's not a stretched wheelbase Mercedes, it's just a regular old S Class. Judging by the wheels, probably a 500SE. The S Class of that ilk (the W126) were available in SEL (stretched) form, but this ain't one of them. Am I right car dorks?
You know, it's not just this crossing at Fell/Masonic that is tough - the western crosswalk is pretty hairy, with the Masonic traffic taking a right at high speed onto Fell. My solution - one of those 4-way walk lights that lets you walk left, right, or diagonal before either direction turns green. Right downtown this is used to great effect in several scary 2-way meets 1-way intersections.
I think they should close off parking for 20 yards or so on the east side of the intersection and sadly get rid of a couple of big trees which really mess up visibility, maybe put some new ones on the other side of the bike/hike path. Also a some sort bicycle detector/crosswalk button that will add an extra warning signal to automobiles in the intersection. The bikes also need to slow down, as there is only so much people can see, especially at night.
Iam5
Speed bumps for the cyclists might be an idea, but they'll have to be set back from the crossing because you won't be able to use your brakes when you're riding over them. Anything to slow down the Tour de France wannabes "going for their time", or other such nonsense, would be a good idea. The blur of lycra shirts advertising spanish supermarket chains no one's ever heard of is a really irrisistable target for my tennis ball throwing activities.
I drive regularly through that intersection. Closing it would just force traffic onto Baker or Stanyan. Better, bigger signage would help. A few weeks of failure-to-yield tickets would help (get some of those cops out from behind their desks.)
Factoid: in the rest of San Francisco it's illegal to ride a bike on a sidewalk or in a pedestrian crossing (unless you're under 18) so some drivers may just think the bikers are being assholes.
What doesn't work: bikers coming down the at high speeds. Very often, drivers can't see bikers on the path coming towards them. And as a Panhandle resident- a walk on that path can be terrifying for pedestrians.
And as a final note, tell the dick with stop sign he belongs within the crosswalk, not three feet into the intersection. There's enough drama without throwing yourself onto cars, girlfriend.
I have a simple solution to this problem: Just close that segment of Masonic off to cars, leave two lanes for the 43, move the 43 stop over there and a street toilet (so those people on Haight and Masonic don't get a toilet near their front door).
It costs little, and no one has to die while we decide on crossing guards and turn lane lights. Maybe we could put in a little extra panhandle grass there? I've always been confused why there were streets running midway through a park.
No one has to die except the pedestrians on the smaller side streets (Paige, Hayes) which will now be forced to take all the Masonic traffic after it has looped up to Stanyan or Baker and then circled back around again to reach its final destination. Nice one, well thought through.
The 4-way walk signal is a good idea, but there's still the problem of people turning right on red who don't bother to stop and look first (from Masonic onto Fell).
As a runner, it didn't take me very long to figure out that if I'm running west across Masonic at Fell, then I can't see the cars and they can't see me. After a few too many close calls, I switched my loop to run east across Masonic at Fell, and I have not had any close calls at all since.
I still think the best solution to this problem is to widen the path by Oak and make it one-way going west, and to make the path by Fell one-way going east. This would also reduce those terrifying incidents for pedestrians on that path with bikers going in both directions and weaving across the opposite lanes for passing.
Where traffic ends up and if pedestrians end in greater danger is pure speculation on your part, fizzandpop. You would have to perform an EIR to even prove your statement. My proposal would solve the problem at hand without expense.
That's right, suspend common sense and do a study instead. This is city is awesome at that.
Seriously, I cross this crosswalk nearly everyday, and it's not a problem. It's called looking both ways (remember, our parents taught us this when we were 3) and, if necessary, raising your middle finger to overly aggressive drivers.
If the city were to put in a dedicated left turn signal, they would have to clear out the parking on the left side of Fell, because just using the existing left lane would back up traffic along that stretch, and the purpose of a one way road like this to speed up the pace of traffic.
Mason & Columbus Ave. has a very similar situation
what does the law say about bicyclist riding a bike through a crosswalk? that might be part of the problem.
if you are riding a bike, you should be smart enough to slow down and get a visual from any car drivers that they see you. if you speed through this crosswalk then you're asking for trouble.
I agree that drivers should be more observant of pedestrians and bikes. I really try to be. But there is also a responsibility to non-drivers to behave safely. Anyone notice in that several of the photos the pedestrian signal is a red hand meaning stop and the countdown is at 0? Or that in the last photo the bikes look they are going to cross when the red hand is lit and traffic signal is yellow? How is the danger the driver's fault in that instance?
How about a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists (to walk bikes across)? I know it would be expensive, but isn't it worth it if it saves people's lives and limbs from the "death monsters"?
Visual cues from a driver mean NOTHING. I have been in many near misses where the driver saw me and decided to plow right on ahead anyways. Any cyclist with experience in city riding knows not to rely on visual cues.
I have one question for pedestrians that I have never been able to figure out. There is a path dedicated to pedestrians on the south side of the panhandle where bikes aren't allowed to ride. Why do so many walk in the bike lanes and leave the pedestrian side empty, especially when walking in the bike lanes is described as "terrifying"? I find myself weaving around people constantly who are walking side by side blocking the path, forcing me onto the wet muddy grass. I understand that pedestrians are going to use the bike side, but I do wish that more would take off their ipods and be conscientious of the other people utilizing the path. The panhandle is one of the only car free zones for me in the city, and I find myself avoiding it more and more because of these issues.
And please. Don't walk your dog in the bike path. It's just not a good idea.
Good idea Mark. I will bring it up with the MTA at the next CAC meeting.