I'm rolling along Division street (busy SF thoroughfare), minding my own business. The white pickup in the lane next to me suddenly tries to gun it and cut in front of me. He doesn't clear the length of my vehicle and I slam on the brakes to avoid being side-swiped, holding down the horn for a moment as any safety-minded, good driving citizen would generally do.

I change lanes to get around/away from psycho driver. He zips dangerously in front of me in the lane, just barely avoding my car again.

He breaks out the finger and shakes it vehemently.

I'm not the best person to do this to, but I don't go looking for trouble either.

At the stoplight : "What's your ****in' problem?" I uh, 'say' out my window.

More finger, more psychotically, for an extended, almost funny length of time.

"You ****in' Prick!" I 'say'.

Light changes, off we go.

He bolts into the traffic ahead and jilts drivers left and right, cutting in front of them where there is no room a few more times before the next stoplight. I notice he's getting as far away from me as possible....

Was it me?

The above ain't even close to the first time something like that has happened, and won't be the last.

I'm getting kinda tired of it. Fighting over driving is not worth it, of course, but I don't like having to be prepared to protect myself as I've had to at other times. That's out of hand.

I envy all you people living in lesser populated areas where life is more simple.

It might be time to move within a year or two.

Hey Jax,

There are some loose cannons out there BE CAREFUL!!!!!!




Bustling cities have their up sides too. The quiet life can be simple but boring.

But if it suits you better - head for your rural heaven.

Well, don't move here to London. Traffic is appalling.

On the other hand, you have less chance of being shot. You may get stabbed with a car key or something.

I'm seriously thinking about it!

Thanks for the reminder and warning, Renie. I don't go looking for trouble... I'm a peaceful guy but I have limits to the BS I'll take, and then I'm the Bull Giving the Horn.

Bevvy, how's bike riding go in London as a means of getting from point A to point B? I can always stitch up from a car key gash!

I see idiot drivers daily. (see location) While I'm tempted to throw any leftover trash at people that cut me off, road rage is just getting too crazy, esspecially here. A Bob Marley or Beatles CD usually takes my mind off the knuckleheads.

**** LA. The place where on the freeways, everyone tailgates everyone else at 80-90mph even if traffic is light (a rare occasion)!

No way I'm moving there unless I never have to drive (yeah, right). Then I'd ride (and carry) shotgun.

The only thing that could get me to stay down there is a more stable studio gig... which isn't entirely unlikely considering how slow things are up here.......

Cycling here is not bad actually. There's no city in the US I could compare it to in terms of 'design' (or lack of)

London is a sprawl with large distances to get across (compared to NY) but not that vast a sprawl as LA (where you need to drive to get milk)

Anyway, getting across London by bike is 'interesting' 'cos there are lots of parks and tiny side streets you can navigate if you know where you're going.

You could still get hit by a bus or taxi though. Joy!

I used to cycle into work (Central London), and the most dangerous time to leave was just after 6pm. That's when the Royal Mail vans were getting back to the depot's to sign off, and they were truly psychotic.

I live in Devon now, and although we don't have the sheer volume of traffic, we are plagued by old people who must have got their licence in the 18th century or something, 'cos they are all over the place and I have had more near misses here than I ever did in London.

The holiday season is nearly upon us and the roads will soon be choked with caravans and 'townies' in their MPV's driving like lunatics. And believe me, it's carnage out there, the road death rate goes thru the roof.

I'm staying indoors right now...

Sorry if I am insulting anyone here, but I think anyone who buys and drives a large 4 wheel drive in the city is an insecure ******, and if they attatch a bullbar to the front of it they are a clinical A**hole.

Agreed.

Hmmm. What kind of vechile do you suggest for someone like myself that hauls his gear around town (4 x 12 space cases, including driving up in the hills), and still enjoys driving out to the mountains in the wintertime to go snowboarding? One of the perks to LA is you can chill at the beach and drive 2 hours and hit the slopes.

I don't have a Hummer or anything, but I excede "soccer mom" (do they have 'football moms' outside of the states?) status.

I think we're talking about people who need a monster truck to pick 2.4 kids up from school.

I'm in the clear then. Although I do wish they had some good mud boggin' in this area.

I'm really refering more to those urban accountants and valium case mothers who drive as though they are in an armoured personnel carrier, as opposed to those who actually have a valid use for such a vehicle. In my city we have had a spate of children being crushed to death by their own parents reversing over them in their driveways, and several other children killed by mothers outside schools this last year. Bullbars are designed to kill and deflect large living creatures from your shiny paintwork. The only reason anyone would attatch one to a town car is specifically to damage other people and their belongings. Perhaps if they stopped to consider a simple fact: If you hit a car side on with your 4WD you will kill them, and probably decapitate the person on that side of the car. Sorry for seeming morbid but I know 2 people it has happened to.

SF is the World Capital of Seriously Unneccessary Vehicles (WCSUV). There are more Hummers here than anywhere outside of the military. There are more Mercedes, Lexus, Land Rover and Jeep Cherokees (etc) SUVs with 'train grilles' on them per capita here than there are anywhere else.

Status symbols....

The other excuse I hear is "well, there are a lot of hills in SF."

Uh .. my car seems to do fine on them ... gets much better mileage .... doesn't pollute half as much (many SUV's are "exempt" from pollution laws here for some reason) ... doesn't require a small penis to drive ... isn't likely to tip over at the next corner .... can be seen around/over/past/through in many situations .......

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