Everyone knows Jaywalking is a serious crime and we should not be surprised if we actually get caught. That said, as reader Dan points out, it’s Capp St.:
Just wanted to share a recent experience that I thought would never ever happen in the mission. On Sunday I got a ticket for jaywalking across Capp street at 18th!
Forget the fact that Capp street is barely wide enough to be a street (no offense) and that it’s between the much busier Mission and South Van Ness. Being Capp, there was probably a shooting, burning mattress, drug deal, other felony, or crime against humanity happening on every other single block of Capp. But the cops decided that the best use of their time was to fine me for crossing at the intersection on a red light. Never mind that there were no cars anywhere in sight. When I got halfway towards Mission a cop car stopped to my left, the cop got out and asked if he could talk to me. It took me a few minutes just to realize I had done something, and that he wasn’t asking if I had witnessed some murder. I don’t know if this was to meet a quota or what, but you could tell even the cop couldn’t take what he was doing seriously. I’m all for pedestrian safety and following the law, and i consider myself somewhat of a cycling safety advocate, but a citation for crossing Capp is just not saving anyone. There’s no reason for a light to be at Capp and 18th except for city fundraising efforts.
That’s so sad.
i love capp street. what’s the usual scene at 18th/capp?
21st/capp: seasonal fruit
22nd/capp: public urination
23rd/capp: trash drop-off and drugs
I thought that only happened in cartoons.
Gah, is this for real? I would probably just start laughing if I got a jaywalking ticket. Talk about selective enforcement – there are tons of people jaywalking in the mission at any one time. Crazy.
You must look like a dirty hipster or drug dealer. The jay walking ticket is used as a non invasive way for cops to check you out and stop you. It’s the new “not racial profiling”.
You live in the Mission deal with it.
hahahaha wtf? You make zero sense.
Seriously, I cannot rebut until you actually explain why you said that.
Justice has to start somewhere.
Nah, it really doesn’t.
Back in the heyday of prostitution near 20th and Treat (yes, it was even more prevalent 10 years ago) I was riding my bike home late-night (a very obviously fresh-faced 23 year old girl) and a slow moving, nondescript van kept a slow pace behind me for a couple blocks (stranger danger!!). As I was entering Ho central my path was blocked by a congregation of what appeared to be some sort of a “business meeting”/argument. Trying my hardest to remain a moving target, and not become a sitting duck, I moved up to the sidewalk for a stretch. Just then, a cop car appeared from the alley. I was promptly given a ticket for riding my bicycle on the sidewalk?!
Hahahaha. I love the description “business meeting.”
No sympathy. Every goddamn jaywalker helps convince every red-light-running automobile driver that traffic signals don’t count — all that matters is your fucked-up, self-interested, situational judgment.
I smell a hypocrite….
I smell your momma.
Blame Depression 2.0. cops trying to make their ticket quotas, maybe?
If they’re really going to start ticketing Capp Street jaywalkers I’m going to have to protest; we’re all too crazy on this block to understand concepts like red lights or crosswalks. Let them discriminate, with two outpatient facilities AND two churches over here.
is dan hispanic or black?
Took this on market today: http://www.twitpic.com/h6356
Not 20 minutes after seeing the same happen on 24th.
[...] down on jaywalking (which is apparently a ticketable offense, or something). Dan wrote in to Mission Mission to warn us: Just wanted to share a recent experience that I thought would never ever happen in the [...]
By now I received the “courtesy notice” in the mail. Just in case you were wondering, the ticket is $174.
Shut up!
Don’t do the crime if you can’t pay the fine.
Whatever self-delusional ramblings you can come up with (surely they could be doing something else blah blah) doesn’t change the fact that you got legitimately busted.
Sam’s got such a good point. Next time he steps off the curb on a flashing hand or goes 26 in a 25, I hope he doesn’t complain about the fine.
Anyway, I got a ticket for jaywalking on Mission and 24th, no cars within a block of me. Unfortunately, the cop who gave me the ticket couldn’t hold back from the lecture. Did I know I could’ve caused a serious accident?!
Yeah, with the pigeon in the gutter. Either the ticket or the lecture, man. One or the other. Particularly for this kind of offense.