L.A. Can’t Drive

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The disclaimer with this photo is that it was taken in Orange County right before you enter the parking lots to Disneyland.  When we exited the off-ramp from the 5 Fwy, we entered the first of 2 (or 3) left turn lanes.  While we were making our left turn, this old curmudgeon driving a Starline Tours bus to our right was also making a left turn, but he chose to cross over the solid white line that separated our turning lanes and nearly collided into our vehicle–no signal.  Then as we proceeded straight toward the Disney parking lot, this guy yanks his wheel back to the right–again, no signal–in front of another driver.  Seriously, man, pick a lane and stay there, especially since it’s apparent that you don’t check your mirrors or blind spots.  He would be exactly where he is in this photo if he hadn’t nearly hit our car to begin with when we  made our left turns.  As we drove by him, I saw a bored, grumpy old man staring out his window.  Hey, I’m sorry the recession tanked your retirement portfolio, forcing you to go back to work; but if you don’t like this job, you can always try flipping burgers.  At least there, you’re only likely to burn yourself rather than hurt others by ramming a company bus into their sedan.

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So we decided to post another video of this 101/405 Fwy interchange.  As much as this looks like rush hour, it’s actually closer to 11:30 a.m.  The traffic doesn’t let up as quickly as it could (or should) because of selfish drivers who simultaneously hold up traffic in the through lane (to our left) and force more cars to brake as they cut in when the line to the freeway interchange is already crawling.  Would it really kill you people to merge earlier when it’s safer and when traffic is still moving?  If you look closely, the #1 to #3 lanes are all moving fine (the truck is in the #3 lane).  The #4 lane should be moving just as quickly, but it doesn’t because of the car way in the distance that you see near the end of this video that causes 4 other cars behind him to brake to a near stop because the driver refused to merge earlier.  This type of leapfrogging behavior gets worse as you run out of merging space (like yesterday’s post).  Half of these drivers don’t even signal and just slam on their brakes, assuming that the cars behind them in the through lane will just grind to a halt and patiently wait for them to cut the line.  These assturds have no idea that they’re just making matters worse for themselves.  Even people who consistently drive considerately and who always obey at least the spirit of the law feel a twinge of revenge when they perceive assholes getting away with this type of behavior on a regular basis.  What’s preventing them from cracking at some point–if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, right?  Well, unfortunately, that’s exactly what you have in this town, which is why our traffic is going to get exponentially worse unless more and more altruistic people stubbornly hold fast to what they know is right and try making good driving behavior infectious by leading the way and setting a good example.

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I’ve had countless posts about drivers who hold up traffic in the #4 through lane of traffic on the 101 Fwy North because they refuse to wait patiently in line like the majority of commuters for the 405 interchange and cut over at the very last second.  This news is about as novel as human rights violations in China or Iran.  However, today was particularly bad, as I witnessed quite a few near misses in post-morning rush hour traffic when drivers slammed on their brakes in the through lane to cut over to their right.  A semi nearly rear-ended some idiot in a sedan who pulled this stunt.  Another classic habit at this interchange, though not as common, is using the lane that takes you to the 405 Fwy North (which is always less crowded) as a passing lane before cutting over to the lane that takes you to the 405 Fwy South.  The light green Range Rover in this photo did just that, narrowly missing the raised freeway median.  This may seem extreme to those of you who either don’t live in L.A. or who aren’t familiar with this junction, but trust me when I say that this stupid sh*t happens all the time.  And the cycle of traffic congestion perpetuates itself, fueled by self-entitled, unapologetic morons like this one.

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As promised, this is the road raging asshole in a midnight blue BMW that almost ran over a cyclist (not the one in the photo) going south on Sepulveda.  I don’t know what the model of the car is, nor was the model listed on the trunk (custom job?).  The license plate started with 5RD for 5-star raging dick.  I first noticed this moron because he couldn’t pick a lane, erratically weaving back and forth as if he was using the bottom part of his steering wheel to stroke his minuscule testament to manhood.  He refused to signal and remained content resting his fat head on his left fist.  But even most assholes in L.A. wouldn’t tailgate a bicyclist at 30 mph.  This guy was seriously traveling only a few feet behind the cyclist on a downhill, winding slope while he tried to cut another driver off immediately to his left.  It might be easy for some commuters to treat other vehicles on the road as obstacles and annoyances rather than cars driven by human beings.  However, there is no doubt that you’re sharing the road with a living, breathing person when you see one on a bike.  What this dick in his Bimmer did was analogous to getting straight into someone’s face and threatening that person’s life with a loaded weapon.  And all of this happened during light traffic…imagine how this guy would drive during rush hour.

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I have a photo I took earlier last week that I’ll share in the next few days of a prick in a BMW who was impatiently tailgating a commuter cyclist on Sepulveda.  What if the cyclist happened to hit a rock on the road and stumbled?  Did this moron think 2 feet was enough room for him to brake and swerve out of the way?  Cyclists really do get shafted in this town.  Not only are there not nearly enough bike lanes, but many drivers feel they shouldn’t have to share the road with these bicyclists.  Some companies give commuting bonuses to employees who cycle to and from work, but what good is a few dollars a day if the trade-off is getting mowed down by some impatient road hog?

This submission really took me by surprise and elevates the selfishness of some in this town to a whole new level:

“So it’s Saturday, almost 4 p.m., and our “residential” street in Hollywood (if you can call any street in Hollywood residential) was pretty quiet.   My husband was just coming home, driving in the same direction as you see this car is facing.  My husband had to make a left turn to enter our driveway, but he waited for a bicyclist going down our street from the other direction; he had his signal on.   This moron goes around my husband’s car to his left (!).   He almost hits the bicyclist, who runs into the curb and falls on the grass berm next to the sidewalk in his attempt to avoid the car.   The moron motorist continues up the street without stopping or even slowing down and then parks at the end of the block and nonchalantly walks across the street to a house there.  I don’t know if he lives at that house or if he is involved in the film shoot that is currently going on there for True Blood.  My husband got out of his car and checked on the bicyclist, who was shaken up, but okay.  This idiot motorist couldn’t wait the extra second it would take for my husband to make his left turn.

I saw another incident while I was running Thursday evening.  It was about 6:15 p.m at Wilshire and Crescent in Beverly Hills. Across the street from me, a young mother and her little girl, maybe 4 years old, started walking across the street when the walk light came on.  A guy in a big black SUV wanted to turn right.  He came out into the intersection, braked, but then kept advancing on the mother and child until his bumper was nearly touching them.  They did manage to get across safely.  Naturally, the SUV driver had to beat me out and I had to stop running until he finished his right turn – but he saved a millisecond!”

First, kudos to your husband for being the Good Samaritan.  Nearly mowing down a cyclist and pretending the incident didn’t happen is seriously not OK.  If anyone reading this does work on the television show True Blood and recognizes this vehicle, I strongly urge you to remind the owner that vehicular manslaughter is likely one of the fastest ways to kill his career, since stressing the value of life in general would probably do jack given that he apparently doesn’t care about anyone else but himself.

Furthermore, intimidating pedestrians in a crosswalk–especially a mother and child–with any vehicle is…wait for it…seriously not OK.  Honestly, who does that?  Buddy, are you actually telling this mother and her daughter to hurry up?  I see drivers all over L.A. cutting in front of pedestrians all the time, which according to the letter of the law is illegal, but nearly hitting them when they’re a couple of feet away crosses the ethics line.  I did see two motorcycle cops pulling over a Mustang in Beverly Hills sometime last year for nearly running over two pedestrians in a crosswalk, who managed to jump back just in time.  However, cops can only do so much; it’s up to us to reinforce safe, lawful, and courteous behavior with our friends and family.  I recently put a new link in my blogroll: Speak Up or Else.  Please take a couple of minutes to check out the site…good stuff.

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