Photos from the last few days

City workers speaking with a homeless man.



Coronado Bridge at night, and the next.



Seen better days

Witnessed a bad crash

I had just cleared at 1st St and Orange Ave, out on Coronado Island, and was waiting in the left turn lane on Orange at 4th. Fourth leads to the bridge going back to San Diego. It was 2:15 a.m., 15 minutes after bar close. A black Toyota Celica was coming towards me on Orange (it's a boulevard, separated by a large median), and ran the red (I think), broadsiding a white car that I never saw closely.

I heard and felt the huge impact in the middle of the intersection, maybe 30 feet from my car. By the time I turned my head and looked, the cars had already hit, and were coasting to a stop. Thick smoke was billowing out from under the hood of the Celica.

My green arrow came on, but I didn't move. Before I could think about what to do, a Coronado cop was on the scene. He must have been very close. I made my turn, figuring he could handle it. In my mirror as I drove away I saw a second police cruiser show up with his cherries on. It was the worst crash I've seen in three and a half years of driving cab.

Coronado Bridge and the Voice of San Diego

I've been meaning to include Voice of San Diego on my sidebar for some time -- it's there now, in the San Diego section. I recently received an email from a writer who has published several articles there, Randy Dotinga, regarding the Coronado Bridge. He has done a number of interesting stories on the bridge (such as this one). Check out the site, and Randy's articles. I think you'll find them interesting.

My own posts that mention the Coronado Bridge are here.

A good deed

I did my good deed for the year month day. We had a lot of drunks last night. It was Saturday night and the city was very busy with wedding receptions at hotels, plus the bars were packed from one end of town to the other. Somewhere in the madness I found a digital camera. It was a small, black, Kodak, with nothing on the outside to ID the owner. So I turned it on and looked at the photos. All black people, and pictures of the inside of a navy ship. I searched my memory and realized I had driven only one carload of blacks, and since I forgot to keep a trip sheet last night, I had to try to remember where I had brought them.

They had gone to Chuey's restaurant, which is an 18-and-up nightclub on Saturday nights. The next time I drove by that area, which is under the Coronado Bridge on the San Diego side, I cruised by the club. Amazingly, the same guys were on the curb trying to hail a taxi. They got in and one of them was asking about a lost camera. He described it and so got it back. He was happy, and while I was there I did some wildcatting (picking up outside my zone) and made a cool $25. I don't wildcat too often, as the $2400 fine (allegedly) frightens me a bit, but I didn't see the sense of leaving them there when they wanted a ride.

Another jumper on the Coronado Bridge

Saturday night the Coronado Bridge was closed from about 9:30 until 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning. I saw police activity at the top of the bridge, but had no runs to the island. Today's San Diego Union-Tribune explained what happened:

The San Diego-Coronado Bridge was closed for three hours late Saturday and early yesterday while authorities negotiated with a 25-year-old man who threatened to jump from the span. Shortly after midnight, the man jumped and killed himself, authorities said.

The long way

I drove three people, two guys in their twenties, and a woman. When I exited the freeway on the way to a downtown hotel, I deliberately took the Harbor Drive exit rather than the one labeled "downtown". One of the guys said: "Where the fuck are you taking us?" My reply: "The fastest, cheapest way."

When we arrived at the Hyatt Grand Manchester the meter showed $26.60. I asked what the earlier ride had cost, when they took a cab from the Hyatt to South Bay. They admitted it had cost $34 and change. They offered no apologies, and no tip.

I had some other mentally challenged people later. They asked if there were any good seafood restaurants on Coronado Island. I suggested the Boathouse or Peohe's, both of which have excellent reputations. They discussed it among themselves, eventually settling on the Boathouse. "That's where we're going," they said, partially to themselves. When I got on the ramp leading up to the Coronado Bridge, one of the women in the back seat said, "Where are you taking us?"

Me: To the Boathouse. I thought we just discussed this.

Her: We have ferry tickets.

Me: You're taking the ferry to Coronado? That's the first I've heard about that. Do you want me to turn around?

Her: No, we're already on the bridge, let's go straight to the Boathouse.

Guy in the front seat, to the woman: You're confusing him.

Me: For the record, I'm not confused.

New Year's leap off Coronado Bridge

The San Diego Union-Tribune is reporting that a driver who led police on a slow speed chase stopped on top of the Coronado Bridge and jumped off. It's 200 feet down, and almost always fatal. This guy survived.

Less than an hour later, Byron exited I-5 at the bridge and stopped his GMC pick-up truck near the highest point and got out. Sadler released Stryker, whom police said bit Byron and pulled him to the ground. Byron then allegedly grabbed the dog and jumped over the concrete barrier into the bay, where he was rescued by harbor police, according to authorities.

I saw part of this unfold last night after dropping customers at the Hotel del Coronado. I was on top of the bridge heading for San Diego when I saw a small truck coming up the other side with four or five police cars following, all with their cherries going. The truck wasn't going very fast. Shortly afterward the bridge was closed.

Today I asked two fellow cab drivers and two customers what they thought about the event, especially the part about the police dog being killed. Both cab drivers said it was ridiculous that a man would be charged for killing a police officer (a local radio news update said a K9 unit is treated like an officer, and killing one is similar to killing a human police officer under law). The customers I asked, a man and a woman from Canada, said the guy who killed the dog should be shot. They were sort of kidding, but were adamant that killing the dog was a serious crime. Interesting difference of opinion.

Here's another post about jumping from the bridge. And here's from an interesting story in the San Diego Reader from the year 2000:

With the exception of one man in 1992, the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office has identified all 202 people known to have committed suicide (by jumping from the Coronado Bridge). Each year the number varies: from none in 1985 to 16 in 1980. About 25 percent of the victims are women -- a breakdown that roughly approximates national statistics for suicide. Most people drive on the bridge, but some walk.

The same story says at least 10 people have survived the jump. The bridge was built in 1969, and the article is from 2000, so the data covers 31 years. With 202 suicides in 31 years, that breaks down to 6.5 per year, on average, or about one every other month. Grim numbers.

Here's something interesting about the Skyway Bridge in St. Petersburg, Florida:

The Skyway has the reputation of being a magnet for suicides. It's the third-deadliest bridge in the country for suicides, after San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and San Diego's Coronado Bridge.

But some who jump off the Skyway survive.

Records show that five people have survived their leaps since the bridge opened in 1987.

The customer is always "right"

I've mentioned this before, but last night I had a customer who brought it all back to me. Generally, when people give me an address, cross streets, business name, or other destination, they sit back and let me choose a route. Sometimes, probably 1 in 5, they tell me which way to go, because they "know the best way." They never do. In over two years and more than 4000 rides, nobody has ever suggested a route that was better than the one I would have taken. That's not ego, because, trust me, cabbies don't have those. It's simple fact. Some people are just trying to avoid being taken the long way, but that's laughable, as their way is the long way.

Here's a pop quiz. You're driving a taxi through Bario Logan when a flag steps into the street. It's 4 p.m. He wants to go out to El Cajon (City, not Blvd). That's a great ride, by the by. What is the best route?

If you answered, "Why, Ted, I would get on the 5 southbound, underneath the Coronado Bridge, then take the 15 north, to the 94 east, to the 125 north, to the 8 east," give yourself a prize!

If you answered, "Why, Ted, I would get on surface streets to the eastbound 94 entrance ramp, near Market St. After waiting for all the traffic and lights, we'd finally get on the freeway. Then we would sit in total gridlock with the people flowing from downtown onto the 94 east. We'd be upset that we had to do that. Then we would take the 805/15 to the 8 east, where that traffic is nearly as bad as the beginning of I-94," you were probably a recent customer of mine.

I realize few people know the roads as well as people who drive them for a living. Still, my route is all basic freeway stuff. A quick glance at any map would show somebody how to get around the city. But people get ideas in their head, and what's worse, they think their ideas are good.

I never know how to react to people like that. I almost always say, "Sure," and follow their bad directions. I make more money their way, but I'd rather go the best route. And, as I mentioned in that earlier post on this subject, trying to inform them of a better way only makes things worse.

Three drunken sailors

I picked up three drunken navy guys from a bar, and it quickly became apparent that two were together, and the third guy, far and away the most drunk, was on his own. He was also incoherent and looked on the verge of passing out. I asked the other two if they minded sharing a cab. They didn't. The next puzzle was the third guy's destination.

The two were going out to Coronado where they're stationed on the U.S.S. Lincoln (Nimitz class aircraft carrier in from Washington). They ended up getting out the guy's wallet and finding his military ID card. It said "72", which is the Lincoln's CVN number. So off we went.

I got them to the Lincoln and cocked my head a little to wait for the fare. Instead, they got out and one of them came to my window and paid. I thanked them and left. Halfway back to the Coronado Bridge, I heard some groaning from the back seat. The super drunk guy never got out! I thought he had. I had to bring him all the way back onto the base and to his ship. After some yelling to roust him, he stumbled out to the waiting arms of the MAs (Master at Arms, navy security).

Coronado bridge

The first one is from the street by Tidelands Park. The second is...obvious.

Bridge collapse

As the country is engrossed in the story of the Minneapolis bridge collapse, I've been wondering about the Coronado Bridge. A TV news report says it's not safe, and now Caltrans says it's fine:

Caltrans officials disputed a TV news report on Thursday claiming that inspectors this week found cracks in the Coronado Bay Bridge.

A day after the fatal bridge collapse in Minnesota on Wednesday, KFMB/Channel 8 said in a news alert, “it was unclear if the (Coronado) bridge would be shut down or when the cracks would be repaired.”

Caltrans spokesman Hayden Manning said the bridge is structurally sound and will remain open.

He said the state Department of Transportation is conducting a routine underwater inspection of the landmark bridge this week. He said no significant problems have been uncovered.

The Minneapolis bridge was 60 feet high and 1900 feet long. The Coronado bridge is 200 feet high over 10,000 feet long. I wouldn't want to be anywhere near the thing if it collapsed.

Sunday photos

I went up to Cabrillo Monument on Point Loma this afternoon



Great views of the bay and San Diego



This commemorates the first European to reach San Diego:
Juan Cabrillo in 1542





Cabrillo lighthouse



Coronado Bridge from Golden Hill



I-94, facing west, with downtown beyond



Another funny Zoni

Saturday night rides

My first ride of the afternoon were four women, two older and overweight, two younger and slim. They said two of them were going to run tomorrow's marathon. It was fairly easy to tell which ones would be running, and which wouldn't. They went to Fillipi's in Little Italy, Date and India St, so the runners could carbo-load. Odds are the bigger ones were carbo loading, too.

We had another jumper on the Coronado Bridge. I assume the guy was jumping, but I didn't see him go over. I was driving some folks from the Mission Bay area to the Hotel del Coronado, entering the bridge from I-5 southbound, when brake lights flared in front of me. I had to stand on the brakes to avoid rear-ending slowing traffic. As we crawled by a police car, we noticed a man standing at the guard rail.

Tonight I've had one ride after another to the Gaslamp Quarter. It's so crowded down there tonight that I can't (and won't) get within three blocks of 5th Ave.

Best ride of the night: Bring a case of Coors Light to a residential address. They greeted me like Santa Clause on Christmas morning. The beer was $18 and the meter was $5. They gave me $40 and said they might be calling back in a little while. They never did.

A few interesting rides tonight

I drove a married couple from Scotland who spent a few days in Vegas, then came down to San Diego for a few days. They were from a small town just east of Edinburgh. The guy asked if I was a golfer. I used to play, but I have given it up. He said he noticed golf is a game for upper class people in the U.S., and I agreed. In Scotland, he said, it's a working man's game. I'd say bowling is our working man's game.

They had seen the new Loch Ness monster video, of course.

Scottish guy: You don't believe in all that, do you?

Me: Not really.

Guy: It's a load of (couldn't make out the word).

Me: Do you think the tourist industry around the Loch is responsible for these sightings?

Guy: Yes, they are. It's a (some word that sounded like "harf").

A strong Scottish accent is very difficult to understand, but it sounds great. Every time I speak to a Scotsman I think I'm speaking to William Wallace. We had a great ride, laughing about Loch Ness.

I also drove young couple from San Diego who were staying at Loews Coronado as a weekend getaway. I picked them up from the downtown area and took the usual route: Harbor Dr to Caesar Chavez Pkwy, then onto the Coronado Bridge, then the Pomona shortcut across Coronado Island, out to the Silver Strand, then straight down to Loews. The fare was $28, and they asked if I knew why they were charged $34 for the same trip earlier, on their way out to San Diego from Coronado. Several reasons are possible -- Coronado cabs should, theoretically, be slightly more expensive than San Diego cabs because the cost of living out there is higher. Also, the cabbie may not have taken the Pomona shortcut. They weren't angry, really, just curious.

Then I brought a nice retired couple from Sushi Ra on Broadway and 5th up to Northpark. I took Pershing Dr through Balboa Park. I always enjoy driving Pershing. It feels like a country highway, but it's smack in the middle of the city. It was an $11 fare plus $5 tip. When I picked up my next customers (going to the Yardhouse on Broadway and 4th) they told me there was puke on the backseat. Fortunately they were wrong, but there was a mess of different sorts. The folks from Sushi Ra had had doggie bags, and they must have leaked. The guy had been holding his bag on his lap, so his pants must be full of whatever Asian sauce was all over my seat. I cleaned up the seat, which is plastic, thankfully, with a Windex wipe. Those are very useful.

On another call, I was belled to a bar on the east side of downtown, and dispatch gave me the name of the customer along with the name of the bar. When I arrived, nobody was outside waiting for a taxi, so I needed to go in and ask. I forgot the name of the customer, so I picked up the mic: "What's my name?" I took a lot of heat for that. "Ted" was the reply from dispatch, followed by hoots and hollers from several drivers. I asked for it.

And the night is still young. It's 11:30 p.m. and I'll be out until 3 or so. Hopefully it will remain busy. The Rock'n'Roll Marathon is in town this weekend, so we're getting some extra business.

Jumping off the Coronado Bridge

UPDATE 1/5/08: Go here for my piece on the New Year's jumper who took a police dog with him.

This is a very grim subject, but it's sort of interesting, so I'm going to roll with it...

Two people tried to jump off the Coronado Bridge in the last six days. The first one made it into the Union-Tribune, which is rare. Apparently a man stole a car in Las Vegas, then drove to San Diego, went to the top of the bridge, got out, and tried to jump off. A motorist stopped and apparently talked him out of it. He continued to Coronado where he was met by the police, then he tried to run from them. The news article is here.

The second jumper was Friday night. One of our drivers put the call on the radio: "The ramp onto Coronado bridge from Caesar Chavez Parkway is closed because of a jumper." About 20 minutes later, another of our drivers came to the hotel where I was staging. He said he was driving across the bridge when he saw a man running from several cops, who were also on foot. As our driver went by the man, he jumped up on the railing. Our driver didn't see him jump, and we never heard what happened. The ramp was opened within 20 minutes.

Background on the bridge and jumpers

The Coronado Bridge is 2.2 miles long and 200 feet above the bay. It connects San Diego with Coronado, an island (technically a peninsula) that protects the harbor from the Pacific Ocean. The bridge is huge, dominating the skyline. It makes a bend of almost 90 degrees, and it's basically a hill, with a fairly steep run to the top, then back down. The Golden Gate Bridge, by comparison, is 220 feet high (road surface) and is about 1.5 miles long.

I have heard a lot of jumper notices on the radio in my two years of driving cab -- probably six per year, with my first year (April 2005-2006) being much busier than the second. It seems like I heard about one per month for that first year. I always pause and hope the person changes his mind. I've had customers in the car when a call came through, and they become somber, too. Usually the message is short and simple: "There's a jumper on the Coronado Bridge," sometimes followed by a closure notice. CHP often closes down all travel, both directions, for as long as four hours.

Incidentally, any rides we get to Coronado during that time are much more lucrative, as we have to take the 5 freeway all the way down to Imperial Beach, then drive up the Silver Strand into Coronado. A 10 minute drive from downtown becomes 30 minutes. More, if IB traffic is bad. I once picked up people in San Diego going home to Coronado who said they missed the opening of a Padres (baseball) game because of a jumper.

Bridge in background on a hazy day; these
shots are from Harbor Island, with downtown
to the left, and Coronado to the right

The bridge has no walkway, unlike the Golden Gate, and there's no shoulder. So, it's assumed that anybody walking on the bridge is planning on committing suicide. There's no net, and the cement guard rail is only about three feet high. Our drivers always call 911 when we see somebody walking.


From downtown

Driving on the bridge

Personally, I've seen four people walking in two years, and I called 911 each time. The first three times the operator said they already had the info. The fourth time, I was asked for the exact location (I was the first to call), which side of the bridge, and which direction of travel. They didn't ask for a description, but I remember him well: he was wearing blue jeans, a blue jacket, and a blue baseball cap. He was small in size, maybe 5'6" to 5'10", medium build. I couldn't see what race he might have been. He was walking slowly, looking straight ahead, near the top of the bridge. Traffic was heavy, and I didn't stop, and didn't see what he might or might not have done. The bridge was closed in both directions for several hours that time. I checked the Union-Tribune for the next couple of days, but I never saw a story about it. I'd like to think the police talked him out of it.

I found something interesting: apparently several people have survived the jump. The San Diego Reader has the story.

Back seats and flat tires

I was going to leave this as a comment at a post over at NYC Taxi Photo, but decided to put it here. Forman's post about a flat tire was excellent.

I've pulled a few odd items from my backseat, too. Like an ornate, silver spoon. Somebody actually had that in their back pocket, or what? I've also found a lot of cameras, cell phones, flash drives, a used condom (yep), a crescent wrench, lots of Marlboros (I'm a smoker and like getting free smokes), wallets, and plenty of loose money. I've found my share of Euro notes, as well.

You don't have to change flat tires?! I'm jealous. We get to do that for ourselves. I even put my own floor jack in the trunk because I hate the cheezy scissor jack that came with the car. I also have a speed wrench, and the spare is full-size (I think all Crown Vics have full-size spares). With the floor jack I can change a tire in just a few minutes.

How I wish I could call somebody for flat tires! If I had a dollar for every tire I've changed on the freeway with customers in the back and cars whizzing by at 65mph, inches from me, I'd be retired by now.

Service car

We have a similar service car, except it's a 1989 Crown Vic station wagon. It has been ripped apart inside for hauling stuff, similar to what you have. Our mechanic, Fred, drives it for field ops. The one time I followed him to our repair shop, I had to stand on the gas to keep up. Fred had the the old wagon sliding and roasting the tires. A real madman.

I have sort of become the informal road man for our company. I like helping the other drivers, and I'm no stranger to cars, so it's a natural fit. I keep jumper cables and a small assortment of tools in the car. I also have a jumper box, wire, electrical tape (you'd be amazed at what you can fix with wire and tape!) and a digital multi-meter for diagnosing electrical problems. I can't fix much on the road, but Fred appreciates knowing about the problem before he goes into the field.

My camera has become a useful tool. Whenever one of our drivers gets in a crash, which is about once a month, I go to the scene and take photos. The other driver and the police are always a little apprehensive until I explain who I am and why I'm taking photos. I don't actually tell the full truth, though. How would it sound at the scene of an accident: "I'm here to photograph the scene so you can't screw us in court with your damned lies." In two years, having seen numerous accident scenes, I have only seen one where it was our guy's fault. It's almost always the fault of the civilian, and they usually lie about what happened.

The few repairs I've managed in the field include wiring an alternator to the side of the engine after the mount broke, and getting the belt back on. It worked long enough to get the guy to the shop. I once fixed a fried brake light switch under the brake pedal. And, once in a while a driver will report a trunk latch breaking just as he's loading luggage. I can usually fix that or provide a bungee cord.

The job is very easy, to be sure, but things always seem to break at the least opportune moments (not like Forman's flat tire at 6:30 in the morning). More often than not our problems occur on the freeway during rush hour, or 200 feet above the bay on the Coronado Bridge. I'm sure problems happen in bad places and times in NYC, too.

Thursday photos

It was so slow tonight I had to console myself with bad photography...


Downtown San Diego and Coronado Bridge from the southern end of San Diego Bay



A lot of immigrants support W (and many don't)



These statues are outside a diner. What is Elvis doing?

Sunday photos: Coronado Bridge

I don't aim the camera while driving. I just point and shoot, and see what I get later.

Tuesday photos

First ride of the day: a Navy base to Horton Plaza in the Gaslamp Quarter, downtown. After dropping, I snapped a few shots in and around the Gaslamp.


Broadway St



6th Ave



E St, central library on left, central post office on right



Coronado Bridge



Mosaic on an East Village building