September 10, 1992
Dear Everyone:
Raging controversy going on here in The City over
the recent police crackdown. What
are they cracking down on? Drug
dealers? Muggers?
Bank robbers?
Overly-aggressive panhandlers?
No.
Jaywalkers.
That's right. A
vicious ring of jaywalkers, right here in San Francisco.
So there was San Francisco's
finest, risking life and limb, handing out $55 "moving violations" to
people crossing the street. Lots
of them. With reporters and
camera persons in tow to catch it all for the evening news and morning
paper.
Why? The
police chief says it's because "fully 50% of vehicle-pedestrian
accidents are the fault of the pedestrian".
What this means, of course, is
that half of the accidents involving pedestrians and cars are caused by
the drivers of the cars.
Why don't the police go after
them? Simple.
Pedestrians are easier to catch.
But the people being handed the tickets aren't even
involved in accidents. They are
just crossing the street. Against
the light, or in the middle of the block, true; but they aren't causing
any accidents, they're just crossing the streets.
The police chief (whose name, currently, is MUD),
says that this measure is to "educate" the populace.
The $55 fine is the tuition for
this unsolicited education.
And where is all this going on?
In the neighborhoods, teaching
little kiddies to look for the crosswalks?
No.
South of Mission, where people
don't quite know which planet they're on, much less what the difference
is between a sidewalk and the street? No.
In the Financial District.
Only in the Financial District.
Why? Two
reasons.
Reason Number One: There
are a lot of people in the Financial District who cross the streets.
And they don't even think of it
as "crossing the street"; they think of it as "getting from one office
to another". Example:
Suppose I have a meeting with
“Shelley” in
“Administrative Nonsense” Billing.
(We still need to get that pesky
California State Sales Tax for Supplies billing thing squared away.)
To get to “Shelley's” office, I
leave my office on the 30th Floor
at “575 Mirabel” Street and go to “Shelley's” office on the 2nd
Floor at “225 Beelzebub” Street.
I have to cross “Mirabel” Street and
Sutter-at-Sansome in order to get from here to there.
Now, no one in their right mind
crosses “Mirabel” Street against the light (except for bicycle
messengers who regularly defy the laws of gravity so what chance does a
City ordinance have?) in the middle of the day.
Those bus drivers are out for
blood.
But the corner of Sutter, Sansome and “Mirabel” is
something different. For one
thing, there are so many double-parked trucks the cars often can't get
through. And even when it's
clear, about the only automobiles that head up that way are taxis; and
they won't hit you because they don't want to have to stop and fill out
all those forms. So you watch for
oncoming cars and, when there aren't any, you go ahead and cross the
street. Simple.
And that's the way it is in most of the Financial
District. You look and, if there
are no cars coming, you cross the street.
You're a busy person. You
don't have time to stand on the corner, waiting for a little electronic
man to signal you that it's okay to cross.
You can figure that out for
yourself.
So if these people aren't causing accidents and are
just going about their daily business, why are they getting hit with
these $55 tickets?
Reason Number Two: They
can afford to pay the fines.
Panhandlers can't pay fines.
Drug dealers
won't pay fines.
Business people in suits can and do pay fines.
"Squeezing the suits!" is the cry of angry
columnists and many irate letters to the editors.
This is just one more method of
"revenue enhancement" at the expense of the corporations who are leaving
the City in droves. Although I
don't know about that last one. I
can't remember ever hearing of a corporate executive saying, "I am
moving my company to the East Bay because I'm tired of getting
jaywalking tickets." I think it
has more to do with the tax structure and building permits and other
forms of revenue enhancement.
And, no, I wasn't caught jaywalking and I didn't
get a ticket.
Knock on wood.
Love, as always,
Pete
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