SFist: Heroic Cable Car Collides with Double Parked SUV

Slappydafrog

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:54:31 -0800

Now this is my idea of TEP!

rubinoff

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:17:26 -0800

Bluecanary, largo01, I agree wholeheartedly. Bring back the old-fashioned cowcatchers & all MUNI's ROW problems would be solved. The drivers are WAY too timid to be entrusted with this important responsibility. I think retrofitting all MUNI vehicles with cowcatchers is a language drivers will understand.

withak

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:44:39 -0800

No one needing to get somewhere actually rides the cable cars, thus no complaints on the internet.

qviri

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:58:23 -0800

Is it just me, or are the "god damn it system out of operation for two hours again, can Muni run for a week without a meltdown" comments, like, missing from this post?

travin

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:40:54 -0800

Interesting. The cable car was going *uphill* at the time.

withak

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:16:27 -0800

A big heavy brush guard on the front of every bus should do the trick. That wouldn't be any more harmful to pedestrians than a regular bus but it would give the driver the capability to ram double-parkers when necessary.

doublegin

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:32:54 -0800

I like this new breed of aggressive, bullying cable cars. They don't take shit from nobody, be it an obnoxious SUV or a little old lady.

bluecanary

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:19:24 -0800

@largo01: I agree, and I think all public transportation lines should be outfitted with giant spikes on all sides to do maximum damage to double-parkers. Uh, except that would probably also cause maximum damage to all the pedestrians they mow down. I may need to rethink this...

largo01

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 11:52:27 -0800

That cable car driver is my hero! I wish Muni Metro drivers would have the balls to hit double-parked cars and SUVs instead of stopping and calling a tow-truck/honking for 10 minutes before giving up.

manys

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 11:42:22 -0800

First they came for the SUV-Americans...

what

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 11:37:54 -0800

"anyone with a pulse should know you don't pull that crap on any street with a cable car line." Are you saying the SUV was being piloted by the undead?

BillyShears

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 10:53:00 -0800

If it was double-parked then the operator may have misjudged the clearance and kept going; otherwise I can't imagine why he wouldn't have stopped the thing. They do it plenty of times when people are almost parked on the tracks near Union Square. Either way, the double-parker should be held accountable for the accident. Cable cars only turn when the tracks do, and anyone with a pulse should know you don't pull that crap on any street with a cable car line.

Ciaran

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 10:51:21 -0800

Ford probably thinks it would be far easier to run muni if they got rid of all the lines...

troymccluresf

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 10:46:05 -0800

Fuck double-parkers.

Greg

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 10:31:38 -0800

It's a bit disturbing to see so many people start suggesting we get rid of cable cars completely, and it's also disturbing to see so many incidents with them, mostly mechanical failures and not accidents, that keep this system from being enjoyed by tourists and locals. One has to wonder if MUNI has decided to let the system rot or something. It would not be unprecedented. After all, MUNI hired a political consultant in the 1950s, put them on the MUNI payroll to create false groups and run a ballot measure that made people think they were "saving" cable cars - but instead were voting to kill most of the system, and wipe out the line that actually MADE MONEY because MUNI wanted to eliminate the historical landmarks on wheels. It may be time for another round of upgrades, like we had in the 80s. Yes, it's an old system and so on, but so is Independence Hall and we're not bulldozing it to build a Chili's.