“Ahhh, daylight savings.  This pic says it all. S/B 14 just south of San Fernando. Pretty self explanatory. This is the one I caught. There were several others on my commute to work last night.”

People, there’s a big difference between parking lights, fog lights, and low beam headlights.  Some cars don’t even have all those options, but if you have a car that does, it’s your responsibility to know how to use them.  What assnut gets on the freeway at night without low beam headlights, anyway?

“My old roommate had his ’06 Mustang parked in front of my house. This morning (10/14/08) at about 10AM, I hear a crash and a car alarm go off. I run out and see my friend’s car smashed in and the rear of a dark gray Ram turning the corner. I hop in my vehicle and tear out after the guy.  As soon as I round the corner, I see him making a U-turn and coming back down the street with a flat tire.  I stop him and call the cops. After I get off the phone, he writes his info, illegible and very sloppy, on a napkin, puts it on the wiper, and TAKES OFF after I told him not to and him saying that he did all that he had to do. I advised him that if he left, things were gonna get way worse. He left anyway. So I’m following him down the street with his flat tire and all, and he’s veering off the road, driving in the dirt, straddling lanes, etc.  He then stops half way in an intersection, makes a left, bumps the curb, makes a right to go on the freeway, and hits the curb again.  Now we’re on the freeway going 75-80 mph.  He’s driving on the shoulder and brushing the guard rail before he loses his tire completely about a mile later.  I’m on the phone with LASD (Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department) giving them updates, and luckily, there was one that just finished a stop just ahead.”

“8 miles later, they stopped him, got him out of the truck, cuffed him, and then placed him in the back of a cruiser. They determined he was high on prescription meds (forgot the name), and he hit numerous other things before he hit my friend’s Mustang. He had a suspended license, no insurance, and possibly no papers. They said he had a ticket still in the truck issued in 2006 for no insurance as well. My truck got peppered with debris from him running off the road–no damage though.”

Neighborhood Watch programs really help law enforcement catch offenders, like this would-be hit-and-run perpetrator.  Though the person submitting this post just happened to be in the right place at the right time, along with the right amount of experience on the road to do what he did, active crime watch programs in your community will not only make the streets safer but will also likely catch repeat offenders.  FYI, if you do happen to hit a parked vehicle by accident, the law requires that you right down your contact information, license plate, vehicle make and model, and insurance information and leave it in a secure, visible place for the other driver.  We can all benefit from the habit of at least writing down and phoning in the license plate of any vehicle we see performing a hit-and-run.

“I took this last night going into work, southbound 14 Fwy passing San Fernando Rd. It’s kind of hard to tell, but I’m filming into my side view mirror.   You can see the Expedition come up to my left; I’m going 70 and he passes me. All he has on are his parking lights and fog lights–it’s 9:30 at night here. Not to mention that when he went by, I saw a big tv screen facing toward the back. No brains I tell ya.”

Now I know that most SUVs (maybe all) have a built-in safety feature where you cannot watch DVDs or the like on the screen in front of the driver and driver-side passenger while the vehicle is in motion.  So maybe the TV screen was for the passengers in the backseat.  Putting aside the TV issue, when you are responsible for other lives in the car other than your own, it becomes even more important that you drive even more cautiously–speeding and forgetting to turn on your headlights on the highway is just blatant stupidity.

On a side note, we’d like to stress that we urge you to be wary about filming anything while you’re driving, even if you’re operating a built-in camera or you’re just randomly pointing, shooting, and hoping for the best.  While shooting videos, I’m always the passenger in the car, or a passenger in the car shoots the video for me.  Which brings me to my main point: As of January 1, 2009, the no-text law goes into effect.  As a result, the cops will be even more strict when they see anyone holding a phone or texting device in their hands while driving.  Since I’ve been getting a lot of complaints about lack of enforcement with regards to the current hands-free cell phone law, I imagine that there will be more enforcement now that there is less ambiguity with regards to what you can and cannot do behind the wheel.  So remember, no text messaging as of January 1, 2009.

The following is from the California DMV website:

“Starting January 1, 2009 a new law will go into effect where writing, sending, or reading a text-based communication while driving will be against the law for all drivers in California.

This new law applies to electronic wireless communications devices used to manually communicate with any person using text-based communication, including, but not limited to, communications referred to as a text message, instant message, or electronic mail.

Violating this law is punishable by a base fine of $20 for a first offense and $50 for each subsequent offense. With the addition of penalty assessments, fines can be more than triple the base fine amount.”

Just as is the case with the hands-free cell phone law, I don’t believe it’s a moving violation if you get caught texting while you’re driving.  As a result, no points would be added to your license.  However, I’m sure the DMV will unveil more specifics as we get closer to the new year.

“I was coming back from a car show (we won 2nd place, woo hoo!) in Yorba Linda with the ’65 in tow today when I came upon stopped traffic, northbound I-5 in the Norwalk area. Stopped traffic on a Sunday? Something’s up. As I’m slowly coming up to the scene, I couldn’t believe it. How stupid can these people be?? I mean just look at the potential for something nasty to happen here!! And not to mention it’s the law to move the vehicles to the right unless there are injuries, and by seeing the 1 guy on the phone walking around and bending to look at the bumpers and the other writing notes, there’s nothing preventing these idiots from moving to the wide right shoulder up ahead! They think it’s a friggin’ crime scene–”I ain’t movin’ until the police show up and you better not also or else.” And what’s worse, check out the lookie loos going southbound; that traffic was backed up for about 2 miles just to look at these morons (oooohhhh, aaaahhhhh), my god people….”

So unless there are injuries or your vehicle is not drivable, pull over to the shoulder.  Don’t just sit there in the #1 fast lane of traffic, making everyone else pay for your inability to maintain a proper distance between your car and the one in front of you.  This case also looks like a straightforward rear-ender resulting from either tailgating or just the old CHP catchall of traveling too fast for the conditions (v.c. 22350).  So there’s no mystery, fellas….your cars don’t need to be exactly in those positions on the freeway.  Further, if there are no injuries and you call 911 or the CHP, they’ll just instruct you to pull over to the side and exchange information anyway….most of the time, cops never show up.