San Francisco Warning or Danger Tips by mydreamquest

In San Francisco, Traffic is notorious after work on Mondays thru Friday. This picture was taken today (May 24, 2005) from IKEA in Emeryville, about 10 minute drive from San Francisco (if there's no traffic).

Between 4pm and 7pm the traffic leaving San Francisco to the East Bay looks like this.

I saw that the traffic was going to be lousy, so, I walked into IKEA for an early dinner.

If you look carefully into the center of this picture, there is gridlock: a phenomena when the traffic is at a standstill.

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When the Loma-Prietta Earthquake of 1989 shook San Francisco, it was a few days after my birthday, on a hot Indian Summer Day.

I had just left work and was walking to Market Street to take the bus home. When I got to this spot (where I am standing here in this picture over 16 years later) on Drumm Street and Clay, the 6.9 magnitude earthquake occurred. The lampost that I am resting on here was shaking up and down and I knew this was a larger earthquake than normal.

Although SF is infamous for earthquakes, only 3 major ones have hit in the past 100 years. The one in 1989 took about 50 lives.

If an earthquake occurs, be careful of falling glass from buildings, disoriented SF Drivers, and most of all, stay calm and you should be ok.

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First of all: in the USA, it is legal for drivers to make a right turn even when there is a red light.

In Boxing, Philadelphia was made famous with Joe Frazier and the "Philadelphia Left Hook" punch.

Well in San Francisco, the impatient, young professional population is known for having the San Francisco "right hook." What I mean is that San Franciscans are constantly driving in a hurry looking for a parking spot and often make right turns very quickly.

While walking here on Judah and 9th Street, I nearly got "hit' by a San Francisco driver turning impatiently right having nearly not noticed me.

Be careful especially on intersections where there will be cars making right turns. Another area where I nearly got hit by a car was on Pine and Sansome Street. This is an especially dangerous intersection because Pine is one way and Sansome is one way. One way streets that have right turns going onto other one way streets are where people run the greatest risk of getting hit by a car.

San Francisco drivers are also bad because, well, they aren't San Franciscans. Those of you who are tourists, if you need to read a map, please pull over in the name of safety.

As pedrestrians, look at drivers who appear to be on the cell phones while driving, younger drivers distracted by friends, young professionals in a hurry, and tourist drivers driving while reading maps. You'll notice a lot of drivers doing other things than driving. Be careful about them. I once saw a woman driving while putting on her make up!!!!

It's a zoo in the roads of San Francisco. Always be careful when crossing streets.

I almost forgot, another risky area are down hill streets where a car can turn right.

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When you walk the GG Bridge, you'll notice the eastern winds from the Pacific will lift you up and push you towards the railing. One who is sad is all too often inspired by this sarcastic wind, the dizzy of the sky and northern bay current below into jumping off the bridge and committing suicide.

While there, if you see a lonely person, give them a smile, inspire them to live another day. We forget how valuable and uplifting a smile can be.

The guard rail is hideously low and unsafe. With the gusts off winds, be careful. Note how easy it is to jump as illustrated by this picture.

Since 1937 when it was created, about 1,200 have jumped off the GG Br.

Just some interesting anecdotes and facts regarding or related to the suicides from GG Br. jumpers:

-The founder of Victoria's Secret, Roy Raymond committed suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge in 1993.

-The "guard" rail or hand rail is only 4 feet high.

-The chief architect of the Golden Gate Bridge, Joseph Strauss was 5 feet tall.

-One person who jumped and died left a journal at his house the day he jumped: "if one person smiles at me, I won't jump."

-One person (a 71 year old man) had the following note in his pocket:

“Survival of the fittest. Adios—unfit,”

-The 500th jumper, who died in 1973, was tripping on LSD.

-Another man had the following note:

“Absolutely no reason except I have a toothache.”

-Jim Jones, cult leader of the People's Temple, who led 912 of his followers in a mass suicide (killing his followers cynaide laced cool-aide) brought his cult (including the many who would later relocate to Guyana) and had a "anti-suicide" rally and in a televised interview said that "being by the bridge, his words, growing, became increasingly incoherent, left him in a rather suicidal mood."

-The press stopped reporting suicides after the 997th jumper.

-Only 4 of the 15 survivors could walk again after the event.

-The jump lasts 4 seconds.

-If you jump, you'll impact the bay at 78 miles per hour.

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