Urban myth?

[sesamosinsal]

In defense of the colectiveros, most pedestrians aren't that smart. I think we should keep some things in perspective: The road belongs to vehicles; the sidewalk belongs to pedestrians. If you're going to cross the street, you need to pay attention.

I don't know how many people I've seen cross one lane of empty traffic and stand in the middle of the road until the other lane is clear. I don't know how many times I've seen people just run out in front of cars or even tempt the cars to hit them. Why doesn't the city government require all pedestrians to abide by the crosswalk signals, just as they do with vehicles and the stoplights? (Yeah, yeah, I get it. "It's Argentina.")

Obviously, it's horrible when someone loses her/his life in an accident like this. Furthermore, I'm not absolving drivers out there from any responsibility. What I am saying is that everyone has some responsibility. I've not heard anyone criticize the lunatic pedestrians, when they most certainly exist...

 

[Hellek]

I wasn´t that ironic this time. Seriously, what do you think will cause more victims: Colectivos violating some rules but at least having experienced drivers, or a much larger number of individual cars driving as crazy but with less experienced drivers.
It is just not as easy as making colectivos drive carefully. People WILL be pissed if they loose many hours every week because their colectivo drives slowly, people WILL look for alternatives to get that time back. Ever noticed the increasing number of those white minibuses? The increase in traffic congestions due to more cars? They cause deadly accidents as well, quite a lot actually.
AFAIK the fatalities in traffic in GBA are double-digit figures every day. It is just that news always hop on a topic for a week or two, scare the shit out of people and then hop on to the next. Car accidents in general are not on their agenda right now. Since there are 15 million people in the Gran Buenos Aires, they are guaranteed to have something to report about all the time, since there will always be crime and there will always be a lot of traffic accidents. Anybody coming with an easy fix for any of those problems is just a hypocrite. Apart from that, life is inherently dangerous and any attempt to remove all danger is prone to reduce quality of life.

PS: It might be easier to understand my point of view if you ever travelled from the province (i.e. Quilmes/Lanús/Avellaneda) to the capital (or back) during rush hour.

 

[Eternalnewbie]

In defense of the colectiveros, most pedestrians aren't that smart. I think we should keep some things in perspective: The road belongs to vehicles; the sidewalk belongs to pedestrians. If you're going to cross the street, you need to pay attention.

I don't know how many people I've seen cross one lane of empty traffic and stand in the middle of the road until the other lane is clear. I don't know how many times I've seen people just run out in front of cars or even tempt the cars to hit them. Why doesn't the city government require all pedestrians to abide by the crosswalk signals, just as they do with vehicles and the stoplights? (Yeah, yeah, I get it. "It's Argentina.")

Obviously, it's horrible when someone loses her/his life in an accident like this. Furthermore, I'm not absolving drivers out there from any responsibility. What I am saying is that everyone has some responsibility. I've not heard anyone criticize the lunatic pedestrians, when they most certainly exist...

This does not fit with the reality of my daily experiences. I do not own a car and walk everywhere I go in this city (within 45 minutes to an hour, and then I take a taxi). Yes, there are morons playing dodgeball with cars and buses, and if their luck runs out, so be it.

I, and most of the people walking along in my direction, always cross at the marked crosswalk and with the light -- I am not crazy. But within the marked crosswalk and with the green walk light, I always, always, always have to watch for cars, and especially buses, who speed up to beat me, or weave just ahead or behind me, urge their bumpers within inches of me and if that doesn't speed me up, lay on the horn like a madman.

Some pedestrians are definitely not smart, but most pedestrians flirt with death every time they cross a street, regardless of crosswalks and go lights.

In general, drivers in Buenos Aires are flagrantly rude, completely self-focused, and angry as hell at every other car and person they see.

I walk long distances in the city everyday. This is the real experience on the street.

 

[Churchill]

Hellek.

Your argument is so poor it has to be a wind-up, right? If not, then you my friend, are a tit.

 

[elhombresinnombre]

The 105 bus rarely stops at my stop...can´t be bothered it seems unless an inspector is lurking to catch them out. When I was ranting to my cleaner about this she sympathized with the poor bus drivers who she said were paid bonuses to complete routes faster and who could thereby be forgiven for foregoing stops if the traffic was heavy. Now the logic of this defies belief (passenger service hello?) but in light of the recent tragic fatalities could this bonus really be true and if so forget installing GPS on buses..just change the KPIs. Anyone got some facts instead of hearsay?

Interesting to read things I never knew before about what goes on behind the bus services. Thank you. Specifically on the subject of the 105, I´ve been more or less commuting on the 105 for a little while now and I´ve never experienced one fly past me at the stop whether heading into the city or out of it. I haven`t noticed it happening to other people either but then I wasn´t really paying so much attention until I read this. I´ll post again if I notice anything different in future. In the meantime, I would just mention that I´m always absolutely clear about my request to board the bus: I usually step into the street and hold my hand straight out to attract attention.

 

[Polloculo]

but most pedestrians flirt with death every time they cross a street

That, my friend, is the game known as Big Balls ®. You want to cross the street here, you have to let the drivers know who is boss. Usually a death stare will suffice and you can cross in peace knowing that you have bested your foe. When I lose big balls, I usually solace myself with a genteel kick of the paneling as the car flies past my toes, but Im a bad loser.

One day I hope to obtain seventh Dan black belt Big Balls grandmaster status, on this day I plan on stopping Nueve de Julio with a single filthy glance. Men will stop and say, there goes a man and the women will throw themselves at me.<br>

 

[orwellian]

Trading security for saving time I can kinda understand. What I don't understand is why the cashier in the supermarket bags your groceries, making the lines 4 times longer than they need to be. But hey, at least we don't have to bag them ourselves!

 

[va2ba]

Trading security for saving time I can kinda understand. What I don't understand is why the cashier in the supermarket bags your groceries, making the lines 4 times longer than they need to be. But hey, at least we don't have to bag them ourselves!

It's not so much that they are bagging the groceries that is the issue. It's that they tend to scan EVERYTHING at once, and then think about putting in the bag. Wouldn't it be more efficient to scan and then place it in a bag? Or perhaps let me bag my own goods?

 

[Eternalnewbie]

This is news. I shop for bulk grocery at Jumbo, partly because it's close and partly because it is one-stop convenient. I've been going there about two years. Not once has a clerk bagged or offered to bag my stuff. How do you get this done? Flirt, bribe, feign injury?