SFist Tonight
Week Around the Ists
SFist Tonight
DNA Lounge owner and LiveJournaler jwz went riding the other day with his pal netik on Harrison Street. Things did not go well.
He explains:
Monday around 6pm, netik and I were biking West on Harrison on the right side when a car passed me on the left, within a few inches. I had enough time to think, "Hey, that was close", look forward, and yell "Look out!" before the car's mirror hit [info]netik's handle bar from behind and sent him tumbling. The guy kept driving. I chased after the car, pulled up to his window and said, "Hey! You just hit that guy!" He look at me and said, in a calm deadpan, "Really? That's just terrible." And then he drove off.
Ugh. That's terrible.
Anyway, jwz has more about the incident over on his site, including a quickly-snapped image of the driver's license plate number. We look forward to hearing what, if anything, will happen to this piece-of-used-toilet-paper driver masquerading as a human being. Really, who does that? Awful.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Light the torches! Grab the pitch(vintage Italian)forks!
welcome to the big city
Someone needs to tell him that 1997 wants its website colors back.
It matches his club:
http://www.dnalounge.com
More like, welcome to the U.S., where hitting people with your car is "an unfortunate accident". If we chose to take any OTHER huge death-causing device around with us it wouldn't work.
Like, if I took a chainsaw with me everywhere, and ran into people with it, it wouldn't work so well.
We need FAR stronger laws against hitting people while driving. "I didn't see them", or "It was an accident" doesn't cut it. You made the choice to get into a giant overpowered piece of steel and you took on the responsibility of guiding it around without hitting other people. If you hit someone, it is your responsibility whether you saw them or not.
Even more shocking is that they let people who run other people over continue to drive. =/
We need to seriously revamp most of our driving related laws, especially those around safety and abuse of handicap placards
I was quietly thinking to myself "probably a Volvo" - much to my surprise, a Nissan?
I also noticed that his license plate has "F U" right there in the middle of it. Makes sense.
I just thought I'd reiterate exactly what I said in my comment a couple days ago when that woman got run over by a dump truck
"I hate this. If you hit someone and leave the scene you are among the worst people who ever set foot on this planet. I don't care if you killed the person or dented their fender."
It seems like there are 58974398759384 fucking hit and runs a week!!!!!!! Take some responsibility for yourselves you self-obsessed pieces of shit!!!!
Clearly, the driver did hit someone, regardless of who was at fault, and absolutely has to stop. No sympathy there if he loses his license.
But maybe when cyclists stop smacking people in crosswalks and sidewalks, and then running away, I'll feel worse. We don't know who was in whose lane, and we don't know the driver actually said that. An interpretation of 'deadpan' could be shock and he panicked.
At least a couple cyclists now know what it's like for pedestrians when they get hit and the cyclist rides away.
/dodging flaming bags of dog poop
We actually don't know who was at fault, claims by jwz notwithstanding. (Because, we we know by now, cyclists never do anything stupid and are always completely visible and considerate.)
However, the driver left the scene of an accident, which is enough to nail him. He should have stuck around if only to tell his side of the story.
One more note: the accident occurred at 6pm, right around sunset. Cyclists are particularly hard to see at that hour, particularly when wearing all black, as most SF cyclists choose to do. I have no idea if these two were trying to be visible or not, but it's a darn good idea to get a reflective jacket, and also to ride on Howard, where there's a bike lane.
There is a bike lane on Harrison, West of Division.
Typical victim-blaming, with bonus hints of "if only all cyclists behaved, this would never happen!"
If only they cut out all the gay pride parades, there'd never be a gay-bashing again.
No, if only all cyclists behaved, I'd have more sympathy.
The driver broke the law because he didn't stop. And really, stopping is the morally right thing to do.
We don't know however if the driver broke the law in the accident itself. Him running doesn't bode well for him though. Dumb move.
@Sleestak - The problem here is that your argument makes no sense. I can't take responsibility for "all cyclists" any more than you can take responsibility for "all online commenters." Your lack of sympathy seems to come from a place of prejudice.
You obviously don't have the same impossibly-high standards for motorists, seeing as how your response to harmful and criminal motorist behavior is to squawk about bicyclists. You really ought to take a closer look at why your mind goes through those mental gymnastics.
'All San Francisco cyclists'?
Yeah, you're totally justified in your beliefs, because 'all San Francisco drivers' are so darn traffic law abiding.
I bet you're exactly the sort of person that gets angry when cyclists stop in front of you at lights and then blames them because you were following too close and almost hit them. Furthermore, I'm positive that you're the type who whips around cyclists on narrow streets and forces them into parked cars because they're "too slow", especially on hills.
Cyclists are particularly hard to see at that hour, particularly when wearing all black, as most SF cyclists choose to do.
Funny, you don't usually appear retarded. Elaborate ruse or good coverup?
huh?
Have you been on SF streets lately? A LOT of cyclists wear all black.
"We actually don't know who was at fault, claims by jwz notwithstanding."
There is absolutely the presumption of innocence in this country, but if the driver was overtaking it doesn't shed him in a good light.
If I were concerned that my friend were seriously injured, I would have put a huge dent into the car to incent the driver to stick around and sue me. Would be worth paying to fix the dent.
I would rather you told the truth, and the Bike hit the car
Here we go again...
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=7068569
Seriously, Hit and Run has to be automatic 2 year license revocation, jail, and heavy duty fines. Right now, it pays to hit and run.
Revocation is revocation. A time limit means it's a suspension.
When San Francisco cyclists start following california state LAWS regarding cycling i'll have a little more sympathy for them. They get away with just about everything and then when one thing happens to them they cry bloody murder. Ok, the dudes bike got hit by a car, but if he was riding down the road and hit someones side-view mirror, do you think he would of stopped? fuck no he wouldn't have.
Oh the poor car! Let me play my tiny violin for you.
Sympathy for other human beings isn't supposed to be conditional, dick. How's that motorist privilege working out for you?
"Sympathy for other human beings isn't supposed to be conditional"
I'm sure you shed a tear every time you think of how Hitler died at the end of WWII.
Not bad for Godwin's Law, only 26 hours or so.
"San Francisco cyclists" are not a unified body. I'm just a girl on a bike who doesn't want to get hurt. I am careful and considerate, I follow all the rules of the road, and I have never been in any altercations. I have no control over how other people on bikes behave. But if someone hits me with their car, it's somehow my fault, because "San Francisco cyclists" act like jerks? Frightening.
Worst is when cyclists themselves adopt this sort of Stockholm-Syndrome-like logic. I remember a guy on BikeForums posted an angry rant about Critical Mass, after he got intentionally rear-ended by a guy in a pickup on a Saturday.
Clearly, if only there had been no CM the previous day, the guy would not have hit him. I mean, with people that rational out there...
No, the worst is when cyclists adopt the holier-than-thou attitude that is seen on this thread. Let he who is without sin swing the first U-lock, k?
Your mom is holier-than-thou.
She said it to me last night. IN BED
well played.
Again with the "cyclists" do this, "cyclists" do that. What does my comment, which pertains to this particular discussion only, have to do with Critical Mass, or some guy on BikeForums who I've never heard of? I don't read or comment on bike forums, I'm not a bike enthusiast, I just rely on a bike rather than a car for my transportation needs. But that alone makes me the object of your hostility?
I'm not holier than anyone, and I don't have any generalized attitudes toward all cyclists or all drivers. I just don't like being lumped into some imaginary coalition of people because I happen to ride a bike.
I was agreeing with you, you dumb bint.
/blows whistle
/throws penalty flag
"Civil, reasoned discourse in a SFist bike-thread!
15 yard penalty, loss of down!"
You're stupid.
> You're stupid.
"Touchdown!!"
I see what you did there.
hug it out, bros. *fist bump*
*floorpunch*
It's true, it was probably a mistake to lump you in with the majority of bike riders. For all we know, you may be one of those fucktards who rides their bike on the sidewalk.
In some states you aren't allowed to pass if there isn't room to do so while leaving 3 ft between you and the other vehicle.
These threads always remind me of Pee Wee's Playhouse insult hurl and defense - "I know you are but what am I?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOGWbzUM-y8
A few months ago I hit a pedestrian while riding my bicycle. I was going to fast and was to distracted for where I was riding. I stuck around and made sure the guy was ok. I felt like crap because I accidently hit the guy. Normally I am very carefull and pay attention to what I'm doing and follow the rules.
Fortunatly the guy was ok and asked me to be more carefull. He told me he could tell I felt like crap and knew it was an accident. He could also tell by my lights and helmet that I was probably a safe rider normally.
To this day when I think about it I still feel like crap. I had never accidently run into someone while riding my bicycle before and I've been riding bikes since I was 8 and am now in my mid forties.
I would never have dreamed of just getting back on my bike and riding off without making sure he was ok.
Hitting someone by accident happens unfortunatly and a person should stop and take responsibility.
The fact that this guy hit this guy on the bike with his car and then even when he was made aware of it, if he didn't already know, then drove off anyways is simply unforgivable.
He should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law as he showed absolutly no remores or concern for another humans well being.
Heck the guy on the bike should be allowed to use this guys car to run him down, then back over him as far as I'm concerned.
You sound like a decent, respectable human being. What are you doing on the internet?
Making semi-snarky comments about the other people :-)
Though it isn't like I haven't had my share of screw ups and random acts of oddity. Fortunatly when I was doing most of that in my 20's the internet didn't exist. ;-)
You did the right thing, both as a decent person and as a law-abiding citizen. Hit-and-run applies to all road vehicles.
I share your hope that the perp in this case gets nailed for a misdemeanor.
Except that hit-and-run is a felony...