“This lady just about t-boned me in a parking lot. As I was using the PROPER lane aisle of travel, she was barreling across the parking spots. As I saw her coming at me, I hit the gas to avoid the collision, and she hit the pole with nobody else around. What the hell was she thinking? I have no clue, but she center-punched the pole perfectly. This was at the Stater Bros in Canyon Country. [In Exhibit B,] where the car is with the lights on is where I was coming in and moving toward the camera. Try to explain to me how she could not see the damn pole?!?! She had this blank look on her face as I was looking at her just before the impact; she was going at least 20 mph.”

I’m sorry, but going 20 MPH in a parking lot is just way too fast, especially since you have pedestrians walking to and from their cars. I’ve seen my fair share of near misses between cars and people that I’m always hyper-aware of where I’m going and what’s around me in any parking lot. Normally, I would address the problem of cutting across parking aisles at unsafe speeds, but then again we’re dealing with a driver who just rammed headlong into a pole. Hell, if she wanted to wrap herself around a pole so badly, there are classes for that. Anyway, there’s almost no point in trying to understand people like this…just observe from afar like a naturalist in a wildlife preserve.

“I have no way of explaining what happened here. I was going east on Nordhoff to my job when I see this Mustang that had crashed on to the bus stop at Nordhoff & Reseda. I have only one theory on what happened. 1) Usually people turning left from Reseda to Nordhoff heading west gun it when the yellow arrow light appears at the intersection. Earlier that day it had rained and the chances that this Mustang sped on a yellow left turn and hydroplaned out of control on to the bus stop is high. I wonder if he/she had the munchies for McDonald’s to speed on it so bad?”

I see people blatantly speeding through yellows and running reds while turning left on a daily basis without exaggeration. It does seem odd how this accident happened if there wasn’t some sort of DUI involved. Hydroplaning is very dangerous and very real, especially on our streets that see so many consecutive days, weeks, even months without rain. The build up of grease and oil on the roads is so great that the slightest bit of rain can create hazardous driving conditions that the bulk of aggressive/clueless drivers in this town have no idea how to handle. Fortunately, it doesn’t look like anyone got hurt.

“Here’s one to start the holiday weekend for you, and sorry in advance that I do not have any pictures of the driver, but I have attached a diagram of the intersection and lanes in question for reference.

I work in West LA and, as such, am forced every day to endure the traffic around the 405 on Wilshire or Santa Monica. Fortunately, I figured out a shortcut through side streets and a few parking lots that puts me out on Beloit Ave. at the north side of the intersection with Santa Monica Blvd, with the entrance to the 405 South being on the south side of Santa Monica Blvd. as can be seen in the diagram. I was in the lane and direction indicated by the green arrow, and the idiot driver was in the lane and direction indicated by the red arrow. As can be seen, I was to proceed through the intersection into lane 2 since the lane to the west of me was to go through the intersection into lane 1. Anyway, my light turns green so I proceed to go through the intersection. Unfortunately, some moron decided to not stop and make the right hand turn on red without looking into lane 1. This caused the idiot in my case that was behind that guy to SWING AROUND HIM INTO LANE 2 WITHOUT EVEN LOOKING TO SEE IF THERE WAS ONCOMING TRAFFIC. I slammed on my brakes and beeped my horn for a good 5 seconds as she came within inches of t-boning me as I proceeded through the intersection onto the freeway entrance. She then had the audacity to cut me off instead of letting me through first, even though half my car was in front of hers after the incident! I was so furious that I screamed a few obscenities outside my window to her. Throughout the entire ordeal, including after I honked my horn she didn’t even look in my direction! Once we both proceeded to merge onto the freeway I gave her another honk and flipped her off, then went on my way.

Phew, that was long-winded but is SO TYPICAL of drivers in this city. The “me first” mentality goes too far sometimes, and people who make illegal moves like this are the reason there are so many accidents. This past May I had a similar incidient where a guy made a right on red and crossed over two lanes at once, instead of properly turning into the right lane, and side swiped my car as I was going through the intersection. He lied about what happened to his insurance company so I was forced to pay a $500 deductible out of pocket to get my car repaired. All I can hope is that these jackassess get what is coming to them eventually and that they are forced to face the consequences of their shitty driving.”

I used to work for an insurance adjuster and investigated auto accident claims on a daily basis. In the event of any accident, you MUST take photos of where the cars are before pulling over to the side of the road. Yes, you’re supposed to pull over as quickly as possible, but way too many people lie in this town that unless you have witness testimony from a fellow driver or a police officer, then the outcome of your case really depends on how thorough the adjuster is for your company. In the second incident, examining the dents and scrapes on the car would reveal that the driver was turning when he/she hit your car, as a result automatically placing that driver at fault.

As for the first near-accident, that lady probably knew she was in the wrong but was too arrogant to apologize for it. To make matters worse, she probably will continue to drive like in the future. You would think some people would learn from their mistakes when actual accidents occur, but quite the opposite happens. These accident-prone drivers are so delusional about their own driving abilities and sense of justice that they will always claim to be the victims in any scenario.

Maybe it’s a side effect of the heat wave we had last week, but we’ve been experiencing an inordinately large number of clueless, vapid drivers on the road, even by L.A. standards. Need more proof? Here’s the story I promised:

“I just gotta write to you about today. It was too much. I was off work and am in the process of replacing the interior of my roommate’s car in my free time. But we are doing it on a budget, which means running around town picking up supplies–Lowes, craft store, etc. Craft store didn’t have what we needed, but another store did across town in Valencia, our “Awesometown” so it’s called (I call it Yuppieville due to all the rich self-entitled snobs). As much as I didn’t want to go, the sight of a fresh interior in the ’65 called, so off to Valencia we went. Traffic can’t be too bad at 1pm on a weekday, can it? It didn’t take long before we encountered idiot #1 in the shopping center where craft store #2 is. There was a 2-way stop sign. I stop; road to the left has a stop, but the opposite lane in front of me DOES NOT have a stop. A white car starts coming through, but a female on the phone in a red Altima is going about 10 mph from a side street just rolls right through, almost taking out the white car who is now honking and flipping the Altima off. We are just laughing and watch the Altima cluelessly meander through the lot with her phone still glued to her ear. Coming home (keep in mind this all happens in about 30 minutes), we meet dumb broad #2 in a new Mercedes E350. This was at Creekside Rd. at Valencia Blvd.–there are 3 lanes, 2 are dedicated left turn lanes. I’m in the right of the left turn lanes and she is in the left. We’re just sitting there when this broad all of a sudden makes a RIGHT turn in front of me almost mowing down a pedestrian and, of course, cutting off numerous cars in the process. Ok, we almost made it home when dumb broad #3, female in a new BMW 335i going down Sierra Hwy coming up to Jakes Way, SLOWLY flips a u-turn in front of oncoming traffic and SLOWLY picks up speed. So I wait for traffic to clear and make my turn, and of course, I end up behind her again. Up ahead is a school bus with red lights flashing and that stop sign flipped out and flashing as well. I hit the brakes and slow down, but when I stop, her brake lights go out and she keeps going and AROUND the school bus, almost going head-on into oncoming traffic!! We finally made it home safe and sound, minus a few more hair follicles…… Share it if you want. I seriously wish I got pics but my new phone is hard to do the quick point and shoot thing.”

No worries about the photos. I’ll share any frustrating stories anybody wants to share regarding their driving experiences around town. The third lady in this trilogy of stupidity really takes the cake. She exemplifies the L.A. mentality of so many horrible drivers here of “making one’s own right-of-way”, which is a contradiction in and of itself. This self-entitlement forces other drivers to act defensively in order to avoid collisions with these other arrogant or oblivious assholes who blatantly break the law at every turn. As if her illegal u-turn wasn’t bad enough, but she seriously could’ve hit some kids by swerving around that school bus. Too bad cops almost never see a litany of offenses like that, or else this woman’s license would be suspended almost immediately.

“Enclosed is a photo of my parked car that got hit this morning (July 7). AGAIN. This is the second time in 2 years. but this time the driver drove off driving an expensive BMW. He hit two cars: one put into someone’s front yard, and me included. Typical hit and run. I am sick of LA, and the cops behaved like it was my fault. Please help me find the asshole who hit me.

On another note I was never treated so badly by the LAPD. The Vin Diesel look-alike basically said it was my fault that I didn’t hear, see, or correctly identify my car and its alarm. Other officers told me that they didn’t have the manpower to handle this. So how does a person who is not connected with the goverment get attention? Even if they die? I am looking out for the people like me that the LAPD could care less about, the middle class, the ones they say “oh well” to. The only hope is that the alley he drove down has video cameras. So if this scumbag is caught. The people of LA should come along for the ride.”

It’s because of crap like this and the plethora of uninsured and under-insured motorists in Southern California that I urge everyone to always have uninsured motorist property damage and bodily injury coverage on their auto insurance policies.