(By D. Hanousek) As I switched on the gas to run down to Safeway (three short, but steep blocks away) to buy the required Italian-flavored breadcrumbs to make Cauliflower a la Basso's, I realized that I have a confession to make. I drive everywhere. more ›

Billed "Avoid the 8" by SFPD, police will check for lushes behind the wheel this New Year's Eve at 8th and Folsom Streets. It will begin at 8:30 p.m. and end around 3 a.m. "All of the police departments that serve this great city have banded together against the death, injury, expense and family harm that drunk or drugged drivers so often cause. We could not be more serious about getting these dangerous people off the road and making San Francisco safer," said traffic Capt. Al Casciato of the San Francisco Police Dept. more ›

Answering that phone call or shooting off a quick text while waiting for the light to change can still net you hefty ticket, a state appeals court ruled yesterday. In a ruling that actually makes perfect sense, despite the defendant's argument that having one's foot on the brake is not the same as "driving", one judge wrote that accepting the driver's interpretation of the hands-free law would, "open the door to millions of people across our state repeatedly picking up their phones and devices to place calls and check voicemail (or text-based messages) whenever they are paused momentarily in traffic". more ›

Egads, people. A driver flying high on PCP last Friday ran into two pedestrians near City College. "Officers arriving at the scene of the crash in the 400 block of Geneva Avenue at 2:20 p.m. noticed the driver “could not sit still and appeared agitated and nervous," notes SF Examiner. "The officers called an ambulance for the suspect, who allegedly admitted taking the drug just before driving." more ›

Drunk drivers. They're the scum on the Earth, right? Right. Well, what about if you're a drunk driver who gets in a car with your daughter and then crashes into a fire house? You make for a good news story, that's what. Lasheena Cardona, 36, was behind the wheel of a big ol' GMC Yukon on Monday night "when it slammed into the front of station No. 27 at 1801 DeAnza Blvd." more ›

Gee, this is harrowing. Two fools who crashed into each other over the weekend were allegedly both drunk while riding their preferred modes. "Jose Luna, 40, of Redwood City was turning from northbound El Camino Real onto Berkshire Avenue in his Ford F-150 pickup truck when he struck bicyclist Alejandro Chavez, 31, of Redwood City at about 11 p.m. Saturday," reports SFGate. "Chavez, who had been riding against traffic while pedaling in a northbound lane, suffered a broken back and leg." Both were reportedly smashed, if you will, at the time of impact. Oy. [SFGate] more ›

Cort Holbrook, 41, who The Chronicle notes works as an engineer, was arrested yesterday afternoon under suspicion of murder for allegedly stabbing another driver during a traffic-related dispute in Livermore. The victim drove himself to the nearby Valley Memorial Hospital, which unfortunately does not have a trauma center. Staff contacted police, and the man was sent by ambulance to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley. more ›

SFPD has alerted the media that they'll be setting up a DUI checkpoint out in this Richmond this Saturday night at Geary Blvd and 9th Ave. There's always a tiny moral quandary whenever we post these announcements, but if you absolutely must venture to or from the avenues to get hammered tomorrow night, why don't you just take the 38 instead? It'll be an adventure. more ›

At around 7:30 p.m. last night, a speeding car crashed into a parked truck, killing the driver. "A gold Saturn station wagon was traveling at a 'high rate of speed' when it went out of control and slammed into a parked truck," reports SF Appeal. Three others were injured after the collision. The accident occurred in the Bayview District near Revere Avenue and Griffith. Street. more ›

At around 2:15 a.m. this morning, a 31-year-old man driving an Audi A4 ran a red light on Geary at Arguello, slamming into a car and killing the driver. "The suspect suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene before being taken into custody," reports SFGate. "Police did not immediately cite the grounds on which he was arrested." more ›

A woman is in critical condition this morning after being shot by Daly City police in San Francisco on Saturday night. According to reports, police tried to pull over the woman in her car, but she "accelerated and crashed into a nearby home" and then "put the car in reverse, hitting a Daly City police officer." Police then opened fire on the car. more ›

SF Appeal has details on quite a thrilling story that came up on the wire yesterday afternoon involving a 15-year-old girl who was pulled over on Wednesday for driving recklessly through downtown. more ›

The CHP made 64 DUI-related arrests in the Bay Area during New Year's Eve this year, as opposed to 92 last year. Four fatal collisions occurred in the Bay Area between 6 p.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Saturday, compared to zero fatalities last year. According to San Jose Mercruy, the California Highway Patrol still hadn't determined if any of those fatalities were alcohol- or drug-related as of Saturday afternoon. more ›

During last weekend's tribute to Christ's birth, many people were pinched for driving while smashed. BCN (via SF Appeal) reports: "In the period spanning from 6 p.m. Dec. 24 through midnight on Dec. 26, Bay Area CHP officers made 115 DUI arrests, down from 195 for the same period last year." Around the state, officers arrested 658 drivers for driving while blotto, "a drop from the 1104 arrests for the same period in 2009." [Appeal] more ›

We're coming in to the thick of the Holiday season here (or perhaps more accurately: Holiday Party Season) and the authorities in San Francisco will be celebrating accordingly with their traditional 17 day crackdown on drinking and driving around the city. According to the Appeal, cops expect to rack up something like 100 DUI arrests at sobriety checkpoints around town between tonight and January 2nd. more ›

The San Francisco Transportation Authority's plan to charge commuters a toll of up to $6 to drive into/out of the S.F. during certain hours has (rightfully) come under fire. San Mateo authorities, who urged S.F. transportation leaders today to nix the plan, claim "that it would unfairly hurt their residents who commute to the city for work and also would push traffic onto local streets." The tolls, however, "could raise up to $80 million a year for roads and public transportation." [KTVU] more ›

While tolls for folks coming into the city makes perfect sense, paying to leave San Francisco sounds bizarre, right? After all, San Francisco is so special that one should be rewarded for taking the time and effort to exit its gilded borders, yes?. (Our friends who live in the other bays must promise us a treasure chest of booze, entertainment, sparkling conversation, quality TV programming and/or films, and pick-ups to and from BART stations to tempt us to leave S.F.) more ›

In front of City Hall at a "green vehicle showcase," Mayor Gavin Newsom yesterday announced a partnership between San Francisco and Toyota to advertise their Prius plug-in hybrids. And, as with anything carrying the Green brand, Newsom gets exceptionally excited. And when Newsom gets exceptionally excited, his hands turn into politically-charged fists of fury. More so than usual. Look at him go! He looks like a older Eva Peron. more ›

A little after 9:30 this morning, a vehicle crashed into a bus shelter in Visitacion Valley at San Bruno and Arleta Avenue. CBS 5 reports, "Four Five people were hurt, and three were transported to local hospitals with life threatening injures." more ›

Tamara Barak Aparton, our favorite civil servant scribe, cut another shiny gem for us today. See, after a three-day trial, 33-year-old Jose Sanchez, accused of hitting a Mission District pedestrian with his minivan while she raced home to watch deplorable ABC drama Grey’s Anatomy was acquitted Monday afternoon of hit-and-run. more ›

On Saturday, according to The Chronicle, an Antioch woman "drove off a boat ramp and into the Sacramento River while she was talking on a cell phone with her daughter, asking for directions," and died. Kathleen Gomez Collier, 47, careened into a river near Isleton in Sacramento County. "Just before the call was cut off, Collier told her daughter that her car was filling up with water and to phone her insurance company." In related technology/Sacto news, a blogger from the area recently gave up her cellphone because ye olde print publication NYT told her to do so. more ›

by Jerry James Stone

Being a car owner in SF is about to get a lot more annoying if increased registration fees are approved in November. One increases state vehicle license registration fees and the other introduces a new congestion tax--as if trying to find parking in the Mission wasn't payment enough.

According to DMV, the cost of registering a $15,000 car in SF would jump from $238.50 to $376; that's almost 60-percent! In addition, The City will be tacking on a $10 congestion tax. If approved, San Francisco's 530,000 registered vehicles would bring in a projected $45 million under the new fees. But, you still won't be able to find parking in the Mission.

Price of owning a vehicle worth $15,000 in San Francisco:

                                                        Now       2011* 

Basic registration fee                      $34         $34

California Highway Patrol fee          $22         $22


Local fees                                       $10         $10

Vehicle licensing fee                       $172.5    $300

Congestion management fee          0            $10


Oh jeez. At the risk of sounding ageist, a 90-year-old man is responsible for this early AM scene in Glen Park. Why? Because he's a 90-YEAR-OLD MAN DRIVING A CAR. more ›

California's First Lady is at it again, menacing the streets of the Golden State. And there's no stopping her. After being busted twice earlier this month for not using a hands-free device while driving, TMZ posted footage of Shriver parking illegally. It seems the rampant Kennedy-adjacent criminal parked her Cadillac Escalade in a red zone, which is an enormous no-no. She will not be stopped, this Shriver woman. You've been warned. more ›

DNA Lounge owner and LiveJournaler jwz went riding the other day with his pal netik on Harrison Street. Things did not go well. more ›

Trouble is stirring in San Francisco's adorable NOPA district. It seems some residents are none too thrilled with the "large electronic traffic information signs" planned for Oak and Fell Streets. The city wants to install these big electronic signs near Divisadero, directing drivers to parking garages ans such, and the neighborhood's residents don't like it because, obviously, they're ugly. more ›

Sarah Phelan of the Bay Guardian captured some great footage of the newly opened Bay Bridge this morning. You can see the new, surprise curve that folks have been talking about today at around 40 seconds into the video (just after the 35 MPH sign). Phelan mentions that there will probably be quite a bit of rubber-necking at that point of the bridge for a while. So, remember to take it slow! more ›

Highway patrols will be on the hunt for any and all drivers who are still using their mobile communication devices sans Bluetooth device while driving. It seems there's some sort of "zero-tolerance campaign" happening right now for anyone driving with a cell phone to their ear. Although the state's hands-free law went into effect on July 1, 2008, many of you still refuse to use your hands-free devices. Which is wrong. While driving, your hands are meant to be used for a cigarette and/or fast food items. So, be on the lookout for cops on the lookout while you're on the roads, folks. more ›

Hundreds of pages of research on the risks of cellphone use while driving, conducted in 2003 as part of a long-term study that was never given the go-ahead by the government, have been released to the public thanks to the work of a consumer group. The documents include a draft letter, never sent, to then Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta regarding the ongoing risks of hands-free devices. As the New York Times reports: "That letter said that hands-free headsets did not eliminate the serious accident risk. The reason: a cellphone conversation itself, not just holding the phone, takes drivers' focus off the road, studies showed." So yeah... to paraphrase a certain bumper sticker: Get off the fucking Bluetooth and drive. more ›

Somehow we missed this late last week, but Emily Anderson of Seattle arrived in San Francisco on Thursday after completing a cross-country trip from New York in a reconstructed 1909 Maxwell D.A. A similar trip was taken by first-wave feminist Alice Ramsay a hundred years ago, making her the first woman ever to drive across the country. The re-enactment required Anderson and her car buff father to assemble a Maxwell using antique parts found on eBay and elsewhere, as only one intact 1909 Maxwell still existed and the owner was not willing to sell. more ›