Just another morning rush hour in the Twin Cities
Posted on March 11th, 2008 – 11:50 AMBy Roadguy
This time, it was the north metro’s turn for disruption:
Semi carrying 45,000 pounds of sunflower seeds rolls on I-35W
Roadguy’s question: How many birds swooped down to try for a free meal?
Twenty-two minutes later in downtown Minneapolis…
Woman hit by Metro Transit bus
It doesn’t appear to have been serious; it’ll be interesting to hear how it happened.
10 Responses to "Just another morning rush hour in the Twin Cities"
Well, considering I had a hour long commute from Maplewood to Minneapolis last week due to an overturned truck, it’s only fair those in the north metro were able to enjoy the experience as well.
Oh, and how it happened….
Considering the number of times I’ve almost been run off the road or otherwise had my car smashed by a bus who just decided to push itself into traffic, I think I know how it happened.
The Prof and Barry agree! A hundred percent!
Prof. and Barry,
Metro Transit buses have right-of-way, always. It’s not them forcing themselves into traffic, it’s you forcing your way into their right-of-way.
David,
Yes, that’s true… If a bus is pulling away from a stop–you stop. Otherwise the bus has to follow the same traffic laws as we all do.
If a pedestrian crosses the street with the green light, and the bus takes a turn at the pedestrian, that is illegal. And I have seen it happen.
If a bus overtakes a bicycle or car and gives three inches instead of three feet… that, too is not legal.
Plus, when a bus is making a right turn on our old streets that were built for horses, the bus does not always fit–not the driver’s fault–but we gotta back up or turn to get ‘em through.
How’s that for highway beautification? Tons of giant sunflowers. Except that they grow everywhere - a new road hazard?
A mess of sunflowers seeds…the geese can’t come back fast enough.
If the ped vs bus incident happened on Nicollet mall, then I have a pretty good idea how it happened. I commute on the 17 and nearly every day I see near misses or people walking across the street right in front of oncoming buses. They’ll walk right in between two buses and pop out into the path of one going the other direction, or they’ll cross against the light as the bus is accelerating away from the curb, forcing the driver to stop. The majority of the people who use Nicollet mall seem to think that (A) they don’t need to follow the laws about jaywalking because it’s a “Mall” (B) bus drivers will always notice you no matter how suddenly you run across in front of them. (C) buses can stop on a dime.
As to the comment about nearly being crushed by buses forcing their way into traffic, I’m shocked, shocked I say! Why would a bus need to be aggressive while driving? Minnesota drivers are sooo kind and considerate and mindful of the needs of other driv… (Snort, cough.) sorry, can’t finish that thought with out laughing. Buses force their way into traffic because if they depended on the kindness of MN drivers to let them in, every bus in the system would be sitting at a busy corner with a skeleton slumped over in the drivers seat.
At one point in it’s route the 17 has to leave a stop and get across 3 lanes of traffic in the space of a block on Lake street in order to turn onto Hennepin. More then half the drivers will just ignore the bus’s signals and move in beside it, another 25% will speed up to get past the bus before it moves into their lane, and only maybe 15% of the drivers do the right thing and slow down to allow the bus to move into the lane.
I’ve had buses nearly take me out when I’m sitting parallel next to them. If you’re traffic, you’ve got nowhere to go.
I’ve also been driving along the freeway and had them cut in on me unexpectedly and nearly take me out that way.
Just because you have the right of way does not mean you can be dangerous or reckless.
