L.A. Can't Drive

Idiocy Meter
 
Asshole Meter
   
Sometime last year, the city screwed with the lanes on Wilshire Blvd. by Sepulveda and the 405 Fwy on/off-ramps in Brentwood. Previously, if you were going east toward the freeway in the #1 lane, you had the option of either going straight or making a left to go north on Sepulveda. A green arrow helped to facilitate this turn. Now, in a feeble and naive attempt to reduce traffic congestion, they made the #1 lane a left turn only lane–you see the sign and the fat dotted white lane markings about two hundred yards before the Wilshire/Sepulveda intersection. Let’s be real…this is L.A. Late afternoon/evening rush hour commuters quickly learned that the #1 lane moved faster than all the other eastbound lanes on Wilshire and use it to pass as many cars as possible before changing lanes to their right. Essentially, a mind-numbing bottleneck was created, making traffic even worse in this area. Way to go, councilmembers. Anyway, as annoying as this is for a lot of the other drivers who patiently wait in the #2 lane to go east on Wilshire past the 405, it’s not illegal…unless you pull a selfish, asinine stunt like the punk in this crappy Chevy HHR (license plate 6JPT). Both he and the driver in front of him (not photographed) didn’t switch over from the #1 lane to the #2 lane earlier like most other drivers. In fact, by the time he reached the Sepulveda intersection, he was still in the left turn only lane. This arrogant piece of dessicated gonad then drove his Moby Dick of a vehicle forward, crossed Sepulveda, and ignored yellow hatched lines (that represent a raised concrete median) in front of him before continuing east on Wilshire. Clearly, passing about 100 cars wasn’t good enough for this fu*kwad, and he felt completely entitled to pull a blatantly egocentric and illegal maneuver. If the city really needs to raise some extra cash, they should park some traffic cops by this intersection on a random evening commute. It’ll be like shooting ducks in a barrel.

Filed under: aggressive, leapfrog | 2 Comments » | Permalink

Idiocy Meter
    
Asshole Meter
    
Alright people…if you move to California, you have an obligation to pick up that flimsy little driver’s handbook and learn the laws and regulations concerning this state. It’s not exactly heavy reading, and you can easily flip through it while you’re waiting to speak with someone at the DMV. The brunette in her 20s driving this pale blue Lexus SC 400 (license plate 6RHP) seemed like a transplant; though I’m not good with the make, model, and year of most vehicles, her shizzy, “old-looking” car seemed to be in pretty poor condition for a vehicle with a relatively new license plate number; if she were a transplant, judging by the plate, she would’ve been in L.A. for about a year now. The good news? She didn’t lose her habit of signaling for lane changes and turns. The bad news? She still doesn’t know that you need to have your low beam headlights on whenever it’s raining outside and your windshield wipers are operating, regardless of the time of day. I know I sound like a broken record at this point for many of you, but the auto headlight setting does NOT turn your lights on when it’s raining in the daytime. Even if you wanted to give her a pass on this law that’s been around for years, she was still riding my ass in the #2 lane on Burbank Blvd. in Sherman Oaks in late morning rush hour traffic. Oh, did I mention that it was raining? Not too bright is she? Someone ought to tell her that the Lexus she got from her inherited from her parents when she moved cross country doesn’t stop on the dime, especially on wet, slick roads where it doesn’t rain all too often. To top it off, after she passed us on the left and cut back in front, she turned right off Burbank about a block later. Really? Couldn’t wait the few extra seconds to make that right? Impatient drivers never–and I mean never–see the forest for the trees.

Filed under: aggressive, car lights, clueless, rain, tailgating | No Comments » | Permalink

Idiocy Meter
    
Asshole Meter
    
The old, borderline senior driving this shizzy Dodge Grand Caravan (license plate 5HYX) is a perfect example of the litany of oblivious driving that complements the aggressive assholes in this town. We were driving on the 101 Fwy N heading toward the 405 Fwy interchange. This clueless fool was pacing us to our left in the slowest 101 through lane (I think it was the #3 lane). The other lanes on the freeway clearly feed into either the 405 Fwy N on S on-ramps–plenty of signs and very clear lane markings. Nonetheless, when the lanes bordering the 405 S on-ramp and the 101 through lane became solid white lines and started diverging, baby boomer here decides to cut over at the very last second directly in front of our bumper. All this was happening during very light, mid-day traffic. There was plenty of time for him to signal his intention and then change lanes to his right, either in front or behind us. Yet for reasons unbeknownst to us, he pulled a stereotypical L.A. maneuver of exiting a through lane (either to an interchange or an exit) at the last possible moment. To this day, I still have no idea why so many drivers–particularly the ones who aren’t overtly aggressive–do this. I mean, seriously, are there really that many drivers mentally checking out from behind the wheel? Plan ahead, gramps….and while you’re at it, check your mirrors and blind spots before changing lanes.

Filed under: car lights, clueless, observation, senior | No Comments » | Permalink

Idiocy Meter
 
Asshole Meter
  
Well, this is just great. Another aggressive, impatient, arrogant piece of rat sh*t on our roads in a brand new, unplated pickup truck. I was driving home from picking up my son at daycare during evening rush hour. We were on Burbank Blvd. going west, where the street frequently varies from one to two westbound lanes. Frustrating? Yes, and Magnolia (the next major thoroughfare south) is the same way. Chalk it up to poor city planning, if you will. Regardless, given that it was rush hour, you pretty much just had to suck it up and deal with the stop and go traffic. Then again, this leapfrogging asshole felt like using his new gas-guzzling toy as a wedge to cut between other drivers whenever he had the chance. In this particular scenario, this guy refused to merge safely behind other cars when Burbank was narrowing into one westbound lane, ignoring clear signs and lane markings. When a driver next to him was going to let him in, this egocentric asswipe then felt entitled to leapfrog over a few more cars and drove forward instead of falling in line, this time ignoring a right turn only lane. By the time this photo was taken, we had a single westbound lane and a curb lane for parked vehicles. Pencil dick then had no choice but to jam his car in between two other vehicles. He made a right at the next major thoroughfare (Whitsett, I think), at which time all the other drivers he “successfully” leapfrogged over caught up with him by the time he executed his turn. Soooo….again I ask, what’s the frackin’ point for driving like cracked out prick?

Filed under: aggressive, car lights, clueless, leapfrog | No Comments » | Permalink

Idiocy Meter
    
Asshole Meter
    
The impatient driver of this Jeep Liberty (license plate 5LRC) felt that he had the “freedom” to cross over double yellow lines into the carpool lane from the #1 lane on the 210 Fwy E. Sorry for the horrible pun, but I am sleep-deprived, and so corny jokes really amuse me right now. Anyway, we were heading out to the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena this past Sunday for their Chinese New Year celebrations. Traffic was very light and moving along at a balmy 80 MPH. However, that apparently wasn’t fast enough for this douchebag who couldn’t wait a few hundred feet to merge legally into the carpool lane from the #1 lane. We took this photo shortly after the double yellow lines turned into dotted white lines. Perhaps he didn’t know that it was illegal to cross into the carpool lane over double yellows, but then again he wasn’t signaling either when he pulled this stunt, so there you have it. Like I said, the roads were empty, so no harm no foul, right? Not exactly…I wouldn’t exactly put money down that this guy drives with any more consideration if the roads were more congested. Rather, he would probably just become an even more aggressive, egocentric, classic Angeleno driver.

Filed under: car lights, speeding | No Comments » | Permalink