L.A. Can't Drive

Idiocy Meter

Asshole Meter

Just the other day, I saw two cars making lefts, nearly hitting pedestrians crossing the street.  Apparently, so many drivers in L.A. are so unused to seeing anything but other vehicles on the road that they forget about those who actually like to walk from time to time (Wow, walking…what a concept!).  And just today, I was stopping at a pedestrian crosswalk near the Starbucks where Wilshire and Santa Monica intersect for a man who was crossing the street.  What does the tailgating, hairy asshole in the car behind me do?  He yanks his steering wheel to the right to pass with a look of exasperation on his face, since he had no idea why I would ever stop at a pedestrian crosswalk.  Apparently, such enigmas befuddle Mr. Yeti on a regular basis.  Needless to say, he nearly hit the guy crossing the street and only braked in the very last second.

This photo is a submission from a reader that illustrates this lack of observation skills that so many of our sad drivers possess.  This inability to process traffic conditions, hazards, etc. coupled with road-raging tendencies makes a lethal combination on our city streets:

“The bitch driving this crappy white Toyota or Honda was tailgating me like yesterday’s bad mercy fu*k as I was driving north on Fairfax. First of all, I don’t know if you know what is going on construction-wise on Fairfax right now near the 10 Freeway, but it’s not pretty.  So who the hell tailgates when there is nothing but metal plates in the road???  Even if she couldn’t see the construction, she couldn’t feel the violent bumping to her vehicle?  Jesus, it’s like driving over railroad tracks!  Second of all, and more offensively in my opinion, her HIGH BEAMS were on the entire time. She made me want to drive badly and slow down even more just to piss her off.”

Though the submitter didn’t mention this, it looks like there’s a pretty nasty dent on the rear left of this woman’s car.  Aggressive tailgaters and speeders tend to cut people off with little to no notice all the time.  I wouldn’t be surprised if she got that dent by not checking her blind spot and clipping another vehicle while trying to pass someone who probably wasn’t going fast enough for this speed demon.  If this were true, she clearly needs another lesson in sane driving.

Filed under: aggressive, car lights, clueless, observation, speeding, tailgating