Beware of Clueless Drifters on the Freeway
Idiocy Meter
Asshole Meter
I love Los Angeles in late November. When we still lived in New York, my wife and I would come out to spend time with family and friends around this time of the year. The cooler nights, the lighter traffic, the smell of the air have become indicative of vacation and relaxation. The town literally empties, and traffic congestion almost becomes an afterthought. However, even with all of these positives, you still get a peculiarly large percentage of reckless and absentminded drivers. The speeders love the open highways, as you frequently see them weaving and zooming past at 90+ mph. Then you have intellectually stunted drivers like this lady in an Acura who, for no reason whatsoever, decided to change lanes from our right directly in front of our vehicle. If the car looks close to us in this photo, it’s because it was. First of all, she wasn’t passing anyone, nor were we approaching a freeway on-ramp; so there was no logical reason for the lane change. Secondly, just because you signal, it does not mean that you can immediately change lanes when it’s not safe to do so. You’re still responsible for checking your mirrors and blind spots for clearance. Why don’t people get this in this town? All too often, you see people flick their blinker for a fraction of a second like some strange automotive electrical tic while they’re already initiating their lane change…and come on, let’s not fool ourselves–we all know that’s not what we’re supposed to do. Sadly, though, you still have clueless drivers like this lady who just drifted directly in front of our car despite traveling a good 15-20 mph slower than the rest of traffic. My wife had to slam her brakes (while she angrily flashed her lights) to avoid rear-ending this holiday-accident-in-waiting. It’s an unfortunately reality, but I snapped this photo in time because I already had my phone out to take photos of the inevitable substandard driving we’d encounter en route to a friend’s house on the 101 Fwy. Look before you leap, people…look before you leap.
Filed under: car lights, clueless, observation
This is a common practice in LA. That’s why I never drive side by side to anyone on the road. They change lanes first than look second. I always get a kick out of the morons who will see a car ahead of them drifting in and out of lanes but will proceed at top speed right past them putting themselves at risk for an accident. No sense of precaution at all.