Muni drivers have reported over the last couple of weeks that people have been shutting down the power on their buses by flipping a switch that can be accessed easily through an unlocked panel on the outside of the bus.

When that happens, the drivers can't accelerate, they lose radio contact with dispatchers and the interior lights on the buses go out. The power loss does not affect the brakes.

Whoa. Fortunate thing about the brakes still working, huh?

Muni says they will not return Hybrids to that area until locks have been put in place to keep people from tampering with the switch. The regular, non-hybrid, less-tampered-with versions of the Muni bus will continue to run through the area and provide service.

In addition to having the electricity being switched off on the buses, drivers have reported that "teenagers and young adults have thrown rocks at the buses, breaking windows and denting the bodies" and "a couple of drivers [have been] assaulted." Police and Muni are teaming up to increase security along the 44-O'Shaughnessy and 54-Felton routes.

Maybe someone can explain this to us, but why would a switch that powers an entire bus be located on the outside of the bus and with easy access to any one boarding the bus, but not the drivers themselves? We don't even live in Hunters Point and we can say that we have Dennis the Menace moments/daydreams of flipping off that switch on the bus. We don't do it, but Muni shouldn't leave it up to chance.

French Dennis the Menace movie poster from impawards.com.