Calgary Transit Workers are AWESOME

[Titan]

Originally Posted by Rerun

It was the bus driver's fault for stopping her bus where she did and blocking your view of the outside lane.

Total negligence on her part. Too bad she warned you though. If you got hit you could have sued the city big time.

It has happened. No joke.

I have also been almost wiped out this way, with both my kids in tow. On the way back to Disneyland to our hotel. If I had not known about this lawsuit I might not have been as careful and the guy was 3/4 through the crosswalk before he looked. Scary. I am now real careful crossing when there are two lanes in both directions. I will also not stop in this scenario if I think it will cause a dangerous situation. The other thing I do is if no one is beside me is stop but at an angle across both lanes so someone coming has a bit of warning. Overkill maybe but I would not want to be part of that type of accident.

[IliketoPuck]

The girl that hit and killed a mom and her daughter two years ago on the other side of the university is a perfect example of what can happen. Extremely dangerous, and she was on her cellphone too iirc. Can't be too careful ever.

[RougeUnderoos]

Anyone know what kind of fine this person would get if a cop had seen this go down?

I think the guy should lose his license forever, but that's just me.

[HPLovecraft]

Does Calgary have a Hands Free law like they recently passed here in Toronto? The cops have been having a field day since they passed it... One of my favorite things to do as a pedestrian is to watch for all the speeders at the intersections that are yapping on their cell phones with one hand and then catch their license plates.

Screw those pieces of crap. It's so dangerous, yet so many people continue to do it, even here in Toronto where there is a law against it. Even having a GPS mounted on your dash board where you have to manually press buttons on it while driving is illegal now. Unless you stop and program it that way.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by HPLovecraft

Does Calgary have a Hands Free law like they recently passed here in Toronto? The cops have been having a field day since they passed it... One of my favorite things to do as a pedestrian is to watch for all the speeders at the intersections that are yapping on their cell phones with one hand and then catch their license plates.

Screw those pieces of crap. It's so dangerous, yet so many people continue to do it, even here in Toronto where there is a law against it. Even having a GPS mounted on your dash board where you have to manually press buttons on it while driving is illegal now. Unless you stop and program it that way.

This is Alberta, where the cell phone companies pay us to talk on the phone while driving.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

Anyone know what kind of fine this person would get if a cop had seen this go down?

I think the guy should lose his license forever, but that's just me.

I think it's something like $528. Should be $5,280.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by HPLovecraft

Does Calgary have a Hands Free law like they recently passed here in Toronto? The cops have been having a field day since they passed it... One of my favorite things to do as a pedestrian is to watch for all the speeders at the intersections that are yapping on their cell phones with one hand and then catch their license plates.

Screw those pieces of crap. It's so dangerous, yet so many people continue to do it, even here in Toronto where there is a law against it. Even having a GPS mounted on your dash board where you have to manually press buttons on it while driving is illegal now. Unless you stop and program it that way.

There was a piece of legislation that did not get passed here in AB a few months ago. Man was I pissed when it failed. I can't believe it's legal to talk on a handheld while driving. I swear it's as dangerous as being hammered and driving. Just today (like every other day) I almost got sideswiped by some stupid little bimbo yapping on a cell phone on Crowchild. ARGH!

[Vulcan]

I just drove to Saskatchewan and back and the only place it was legal to talk while driving was Alberta.

There's got to be a word or expression for a case like this.
The worst and most oblivious drivers in the world have the most lenient laws because they think they don't need them.

[REDVAN]

Originally Posted by 4X4

I think it's something like $528. Should be $5,280.

Depends on what the cop saw-

Dangerous driving, distracted driving, failure to stop for a pedestrian (500), passing in a crosswalk (passed the bus- 500), speeding 20 over, etc.

This is one of those cases that was lucky...

[4X4]

I'll tell ya, if I was a cop, I'd request a ghost car and I'd just drive around all day fining cell phone drivers and texter drivers for driving without due care and attention. Then at night I'd come here and read all the BS rants about how the a-hole cop gave so and so an unjust ticket.

I'm a pretty right wing guy, and rarely do I support the taking away of freedoms, but cell phone drivers are dangerous, clueless idiots that swerve, make sudden motions, drive slowly and obliviously, and damn near kill people, like the OP.
I see it all day, every day, and it drives me crazy. Nothing makes me madder than being stuck behind some sh*thead going 35 in a 50, all slumped over, with his hand plastered to his ear. Wait, there are things that make me madder... Stuff like what happened in the OP.

I'm embarrassed to admit that my dear old dad is a total cell phone driver. It just occurred to me that a good gift for him would be a bluetooth, but I doubt he'd use it.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by 4X4

There was a piece of legislation that did not get passed here in AB a few months ago. Man was I pissed when it failed. I can't believe it's legal to talk on a handheld while driving. I swear it's as dangerous as being hammered and driving. Just today (like every other day) I almost got sideswiped by some stupid little bimbo yapping on a cell phone on Crowchild. ARGH!

At least if you are drunk you're trying to drive properly.

[ericschand]

At a 3-way stop T-intersection, a cop and I pull up, him driving east-west, me
south-north. Since I pulled up first, I began moving to turn left.

I noticed movement to my left and hit my brakes. A lady driving a big SUV
went right through her stop sign, travelling west-east, phone to her ear.
She missed a stop sign with a cop sitting right there!

Cop did nothing, just continued on his way.

Edit, keep on topic:
Most of transit workers I've run into have been very nice. Yeah, everyone
has their run-ins with someone who wasn't, but I've never been overly
inconvenienced. On those express bus routes, I've noticed that if you are
there everyday, and one day you aren't, many bus drivers wait a minute,
just in case.

ers