A Few Issues as of Late

I want to start off by saying that I have been picking up riders in the am at Tackett's to Rosslyn and in the pm from Rosslyn to Tackett's or Horner for a couple of years now. I enjoy doing this and have gotten to know quite a few of the riders from seeing them over and over again. However, I am getting a little disheartened at some issues that have arisen lately and feel I must post them to try to get them out there, so folks are aware and hopefully the negative actions can be stopped.

1. I have noticed quite a bit lately that riders that get in my back seat do not buckle up and I have had to ask them to buckle up. While, I do this nicely, I am always somewhat surprised that I even have to ask and now am extremely careful to be sure people are doing this. In one instance when I asked the rider to buckle up, I got a comment that was along the lines of "are you serious?" Bottom line, is as far as I know it is the law and in my mind it should be an automatic for riders to buckle up when getting in a car with anyone, most especially with a driver they do not know.

2. I keep my car very clean. I made the most unpleasant finding of no less then 7 receipts stuffed into my cup holder in the back seat. This was unpleasant, because first my cup holder is always closed in the back seat, so not only did this individual open something they never should have, when they shoved the receipts in the cup holder they closed it again causing it to jam. Luckily, I was able to get the cup holder open without breaking it and extracted the receipts. I do not understand why someone would do this and IMO is a clear lack of respect for my property. I ask that riders do not use my vehicle as their personal dumping ground for any garbage.

3. As most riders and drivers are aware the newer set-up at the Tackett's lot is less then ideal, as the Pentagon drivers tend to pile up and block in the driver's picking up riders for the Crystal City/Rosslyn line. While most Pentagon drivers are polite and considerate and let drivers from the Crystal City/Rosslyn line out, I had an unfortunate run in with a driver this morning in a Saturn who clearly saw me trying to pull out with riders. This person was the first car in the line after the intersection in the road and could have easily pulled forward behind the other cars waiting for Pentagon riders. However, she refused to do so after I beeped at her twice. This meant I had to either wait for her to finally move forward or go around her into the lane incoming traffic comes into the lot on. Neither ideal. I did choose to go around this individual when traffic was clear and advise this individual that she should pull forward and not block outgoing traffic. I really wish that we could find a solution to this problem. In the meantime, please keep in mind that none of us asked for this set-up and we should all be courteous and work together to allow everyone to come and go safely from the lot.

4. I picked up a rider this afternoon in Rosslyn who got in my front seat. I still needed one more rider, but this rider took it upon herself to roll up my passenger window. I thought that was odd, as I have never had anyone do that before, but let it go, as I am not a driver that is overly picky with riders (don't mind if they chat on their cell, etc.). There was a line of cars in front of me waiting for riders that clearly were not picking up for Tackett's, so as usually happens riders make their way up the line of cars to find driver's going to their destination. Two riders were coming up the line and I did happen to recognize one of them as a Tackett's rider, so I rolled down the window. Before this person had a chance to reach my car another rider coming from behind (so they hadn't even gotten to the front of the line yet) was a Tackett's rider and the rider in my passenger seat yelled Tackett's to him, in effect allowing him to cut in front of the two riders coming from the front of the line. I tried to tell this individual to wait to get into the car, as I did not want a situation where the riders in the front of the line were disadvantaged. The rider either did not hear me or ignored me and got in the car. I told him again to wait and tried to explain what happened. He clearly did not understand and got out of my car. First off I want to apologize to that individual as the rider in the passenger seat never should have said anything to him at that point. In addition, I would have been more then happy to take 4 riders (as I often do if lines are long), but wanted to square everything away first to make sure no one was disadvantaged. Second, the other rider in my passenger seat never should have said anything to the person coming from the back of the line until she was sure that the riders coming from the front of the line were not going to the same destination. I have heard that this type of situation does tend to happen in Rosslyn, so wanted to try to address it and this particular instance seemed to describe the issue well.

Apologies for the very long post, but these are all issues I felt needed to be addressed and I hope by posting them here riders and drivers will take these issues to heart. I do enjoy picking up riders and it certainly serves an invaluable purpose for me and I hope that these situations are simply rarities and my morning and afternoon commutes up and down the HOV continues to be a pleasant experience.

I always thought that since slugging is such a huge part of this area commute, which also significantly reduces traffic congestion, that VDOT should be providing more support along the lines of slug shelters, informational pamphlets and notices for both drivers and slugs.

As for seat belts - it's my car and an unbelted rear seat passenger is among the greatest risk to the front seat occupants. Seat belts also significantly reduce injuries and making all passengers buckle up helps to reduce financial liability - as well as protecting them from harm. If a passenger doesn't want to buckle up - tell them to exit the car.

quote:

---

Originally posted by slug123456789

quote:

---

Originally posted by mdog

quote:

---

1. I have noticed quite a bit lately that riders that get in my back seat do not buckle up and I have had to ask them to buckle up. While, I do this nicely, I am always somewhat surprised that I even have to ask and now am extremely careful to be sure people are doing this. In one instance when I asked the rider to buckle up, I got a comment that was along the lines of "are you serious?" Bottom line, is as far as I know it is the law...

---

No it's not.

---

Yes, it is. Have you not seen those signs on the road that say "Click it or ticket;" "Buckle up - It's the LAW."

---

Have you read the original post? It's about the belts for BACK SEAT passengers. Which in VA is mandatory for children only.

As a general comment, if people studied VA (and DC for this matter) driving manuals before hitting the road, it would remove a lot of confusion and probably half of the problems wouldn't exist.

quote:

---

Originally posted by shorty5646

From http://mpdc.dc.gov:

"Failure to comply with adult seat belt laws can result in a $50 fine and two points on the driver's license. DC's seat belt law requires the driver and all passengers to be properly buckled up at all times, in the front and back seats. This requirement applies to passengers in all vehicles, including taxicabs. As with child safety seat violations, District law allows police to stop a vehicle solely because drivers and passengers are not properly buckled."

"The Virginia Highway Safety Office wants to remind you that seat belts are your best defense during a crash. The primary function of the seat belt is to prevent ejection and spread crash forces over a wider part of the body to reduce injury and fatality. In fact, with the proper use of seat belts you are 40% less likely to be fatally injured during a crash.

With these odds, why wouldn't you buckle up?"
-- VA DMV

---

I didn't know Rosslyn was in DC...

# 3- Posted a comment a few years ago regarding this - no luck,
Also, after the extension of Tacketts was finished, I remember a police officer sending cars to pick up slugs to the space behind the bus stop, no luck either,
regarding the seat belt issue, if you got in an accident i am sure that person will sue you as it will be your liability for his/hers injuries if gets thrown out of the window for not buckle up,