If Elon Musk is really one of the worst people on Earth why does Matt provide so many links to his company?

1 That is a very stupid thing to say.

In other news -

Driver' Get Violent: Seattle Parks are doing improvements near West Green Lake Way. The improvements are pushing pedestrians into the crosswalks where busy traffic refuses to yield. We will see car-on-pedestrian fatalities there in the near future because SDOT will ignore the problem completely.

West Green Lake Way should be permanently closed to cars.

@2 Why?

I’ve never had a Twitter account, and never downloaded the app, so I don’t fully understand the addiction. But given how sanctimonious Stranger staff writers, and Matt in particular, get about EVERYTHING, I would expect The Stranger to be a tweet free zone.

"Drivers got violent this weekend" This is banal even for Matt. We get it. You hate cars. If you had your preference I-5 would be shuttered through downtown and all streets between 90 and 520 would be a walkable, urban paradise. Unfortunately for Matt many people have to rely on cars because they don't live in his fairy tale world and pissing all over them from his pedestal is not a great way to advocate for improvements in pedestrian safety.

@2: If you're referring to the construction of the new boat house, how is the trail detour pushing people into crosswalks. People are being diverted to the outer mixed use trail (and a walking section parallel to it) and then it goes back to the regular trail. It doesn't cross crosswalks. Or are you referring to other work?

The real issue though in that detour is the poor condition of the detour area. The paved area fills with water when it rains and won't be stepped in by normal people, so unpaved areas next to it get all muddy and yucky from all the traffic.

"Fairy tale world" is a great description of Matt and the rest of the Sloggers views. Matt's dumb enough to think that a person that crosses Aurora by jumping the jersey barrier during a rainy night and gets hit by a car was a "victim" and that SDOT and "car culture" is to blame. Fairy tale world, indeed.

Cars aren't going away, baby, regardless of what you want.

You’d have to be a real moron to just park on hwy 2. Hopefully all of those entitled folks got towed to a lot far far away.

Also, the stranger loves twitter - deep thinker girlie hannah even gratuitously links her own twitter brilliance all the time.

How about that White Lotus finale?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddsZTFSfXaw

Twitter's fantastic these days. Wonderfully provocative and outrageous. The right and left are grumbling at each other with equal vigor. The essence of the first amendment.

"Vision Zero" is such a dopey City of Seattle thing. The three main causes of traffic fatalities are 1) Impaired (or just bad) drivers 2) Impaired (or just dumb) pedestrians, and 3) As our dear seventiesrocked points out, lack of enforcement. I haven't seen a speed trap in Seattle for at least five years, other than traffic cameras.

I would guess that about 75% of the pedestrian fatalities on Rainier and Aurora are because of messed up people wandering into the road, and 50% of the total car wrecks are because of impaired drivers. Just the other day, I observed a fellow who was weaving all over the road along Aurora. He finally coasted into a car that was waiting to turn onto Northgate way. And this was in broad daylight on a workday.

Just this last Sunday morning, there was a horrendous wreck at Rainier and Massachusetts. It was at three in the morning. What do you want to be at least one of the two drivers was seriously impaired?

All the traffic engineering, all the "road diets", all the bike lanes in the world aren't going to solve that. And in a country that is built on personal mobility, which has a multi-billion dollar industry constantly telling people that their self-worth and self-image is tied to the sort of vehicle they drive, city governments are helpless.

Vision Zero ...

More like Vision Nero.

How about some information on the drivers who hit pedestrians. And more information on the pedestrians - where they were crossing for example. Wonder if it might offend the narrative.

Maybe if we actually required and enforced current insurance on cars as well as up to date tabs. Some states use data bases and require current insurance proof before tab renewals are issued. We could hire a bunch of cops and use plate scanning technologies on the road and pull over every expired tab, not to mention stolen tabs that don't match the car, stolen cars and wanted cars? But like when Sound Transit created a fair and random check on payment status on light-rail, they found that there was a disproportionate number of minorities being found to have not paid - so our brilliant response was to stop requiring payment it seems, or at least enforcement.

Anything that requires demonstrated responsibility from those who are irresponsible, so long as said irresponsible people can claim oppression, is opposed by a vocal group as racist.

I'd love to get unlicensed/uninsured cars and irresponsible drivers off the street. I imagine there is some correlation between owners of the former and the latter. They have little to lose compared to those of us who pay our share and then some on our premiums to cover our stolen cars and uninsured motorist fees.

I don't like people getting hurt, but the only reason some pedestrians sauntering across the street against a red light are alive to continue to saunter, is because some of us drivers are paying attention, while the pedestrians in question are thumbing their noses or feet at the traffic rules.

viva Sicilia!

I love that Twitter removed the video of Musk getting booed and deleted the poster's account. So much for free speech absolutism!

@11 Ah yes, free speech at its finest. Criticism of Musk gets banned, Nazis are replatformed. The best!

“Twitter is evil, and its billionaire owner must be resisted at every turn,” they tweeted from their L-shaped couches.

Cars baaaaaad!

@11, the essence of the first amendment is a a rich person gatekeeping tweets and removing ones that hurt his feelings?

Stevens is going to have to require parking passes be purchased or acquired in advance. It's been overcapacity for years. Once you've driven there and been shut out at 9 AM on a Saturday or Sunday, you don't come back on the weekend.

@16 - Presently there is no enforcement of insurance requirements proactively. One may get cited for lack of insurance but they are driving with current tabs. What if one could not get tabs without actual proof of insurance. What if like other jurisdictions we actually had cops enforcing laws, liberal use of impounding vehicles that have been cited and not paid tickets, that boot device I have not seen for a while. I feel like a rube for paying for insurance and hundreds of dollars in Sound transit fees when others are allowed to not, and ride for free on trains. What we see in Seattle is not normal. Many places in the US actually enforce driving and licensing laws and enforce fares.

@23 - You nicely encapsulate the problem of free-riding and how it alienates others. This is something that has caused major issues in Southern Europe where tax avoidance was endemic - Greece and Italy come to mind. Affluent people would claim minimal income. I pay lots of taxes and do so if not with enthusiasm, at least with comfort, knowing that the majority of people in the US pay what is required of them (former President an exception). If tax avoidance was the norm, I'd feel like an idiot for compliance.

Current laws can be changed. And many states require proof of insurance to get tabs. I suppose some would cancel upon receiving tabs but many would not. I think Washington should change laws. And it is certainly permitted to pull over and ticket cars with expired tabs. Enough unpaid tickets and one is stopped from getting new tabs and/or can risk impoundment etc.

My main point is that the status quo sucks. And I believe that anyone who has a car has a responsibility to license and insure it and not claim affordability as an excuse. One is free to not have a car and pick jobs accordingly, like many already do.

@17
Like Phoenix -I have been on Phoenix Metro light rail several times when a pair of transit workers boarded the car. They had no problem checking everyone’s fare. One look at them, and you knew they meant business.
The pair of workers were African-American. They were very professional, and no-one was going to scream ‘racist enforcement’ at them.

@15/@30: You're both are obviously not following Twitter. Plenty of tweets trashing Musk deservedly for his "pronoun" tweet attacking Fauci, among other things. He's savvy enough to let them through.

@28 Just because they let the response to the Fauci bullshit stand doesn't mean that they aren't censoring the video of Elon getting booed. Both can be true at the same time.

With the possible exception of the driver who fled the cops and crashed into someone, all these "drivers getting violent" are simply accidents...and many of those likely caused by oblivious pedestrians walking out in front of the oncoming car(s). So, whenever Matt has an accident of any kind, is he too "getting violent" in some way?

I think I'll go for a leisurely drive in Matt's honor now.

@11 of course you would love the toxic trash heap that is Twitter.

Matt this slog was fucking lame. While it is sad that we live in car culture only a sweet summer child would be as whiny as you about being only born white and male and not being lucky enough to be also born rich and European/Japanese/Singaporean or something other really nice place to be rich.

@27

That’s odd. In my experience the people who bleat the most against putting real teeth into traffic camera enforcement are Libertarians and conservatives who wail about not being able to confront your accuser and an encroaching Orwellian dystopia.

That’s the reason photo tickets don’t include any points to your license or any real enforcement mechanism.

I would love if there was a red light camera at every traffic light. I’d love to see the fines start at $500 and grow by $250 for each additional infraction. Also you should lose your license if you have two moving violations in 6 months. Further I’d love to see a law passed that the registered owner of a vehicle was responsible for all moving violations the vehicle is involved in, to stop the bullshit claim that “you can’t prove I was the driver!”

If my suggestions were passed I’m thinking the biggest outcry would come from the right side of the political spectrum.

good one Matt
make 'em Earn it.

Chappelle is one of the worst people on earth? Seriously? You must not know many people. Holy shit, your average Republican is much, much worse, and there are a shitload of them. Just think of all the people who voted for Trump. Millions. Fucking millions. That's just this country. There are shitloads of worse people in other countries. Millions upon millions.

Chappelle is just a very famous, very successful comedian who isn't afraid to tell controversial jokes -- like a lot of comedians throughout history (Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Chris Rock ...).

@29: You mean this Twitter video?

https://twitter.com/thevivafrei/status/1602404206614351886?s=20&t=gYhTmBCdSyNfcVejBfp3jQ

@26
Christ, you're a tedious asshole.

Have fun burning down your strawmen.

Out of curiosity, what were some of your banned nyms? I'm sure you gots several...

Dave Chapelle is a national treasure, bro.

JEEZUS!! Just when I thought US Route 2 couldn't possibly get any worse.....

Along with clueless pedestrians on Aurora Avenue North, how many drivers in these accidents are distracted by their phones? Shit like this is why I'm so glad I keep my car in seasonal fall / winter hibernation and just don't drive during the bad weather months. How distracted and road raged are pedestrians and motorists going to be during the good weather season? Get off your fucking phones, idiots, and pay attention to light changes and traffic!!

@32 donnaleigh: +1 As strong as my dislike for Elon Musk is, I was wondering the exact same thing. Along with Musk (I know Dave Chappelle is a stand up comedian, but I'm unfamiliar with his comedy schtick so I'm not counting Chappelle here) I rate Donald, the Orange Turd Trump, Mitch McConnell, Vladimir Putin, six U.S.Extreme Court neofascists, QAnon goons, Proud Boys, Patriot Players, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Kari Lake, and everyone else who's bootlicking RepubliKKKan as worst humans in the world.
I consider Elon Musk among the list of worst humans on Earth, but not quite THE worst. I'd rate Musk within the top five worst, within one or two of the Orange Turd.

@35 Ross: +1 Thank you for beating me to it.

@39 raindrop: If Dave Chappelle is anything like Seth McFarlane, I hate him.

@11 raindrop: Seriously, dude. Get a nap.

@12 Catalina Vel-DuRay and @12 Will in Seattle: +2 Agreed.