L.A. Can't Drive » headlights

Freeway Driving Without Head or Taillights While Browsing on His Cell

I-95, U-405 — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:09:08 +0000

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I took a photo of this middle-aged guy in this dark red Mustang a few days ago. He was on the 134 Fwy and got off at the Buena Vista exit. Wait, what’s this? Did I say he was driving on the freeway? But his headlights aren’t on! I have to be kidding, right? I mean, who is honestly that stupid to get on the freeway at night going 65+ mph without any head or taillights on? Unfortunately, such occurrences are quite commonplace in this town. Honest mistakes happen once in awhile, right? Well, this guy doesn’t get a pass because he was probably too busy browsing on his smart phone (saw this as he drove past me) to have paid attention to anything going around outside his vehicle. Double-whammy for being both dumb and inattentive.

Happy New Year

I-95, U-405 — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 03:57:18 +0000

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Happy New Year, everyone! Be safe in your bacchanals and for everyone’s sake, please don’t drive drunk. Police officers often hone in on cars driving around at night without their head or taillights lit on celebratory nights like New Year’s Eve to arrest people driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. So even if you’re clean, if you don’t want a run-in with the cops en route to a party, then pay extra attention to your low beam headlights setting tonight. Anyway, here’s a submission I received last week regarding this very issue:

“It’s 6 am, do you know where the light switch is? I still need some artificial light from my truck to help me see. People in this town never cease to amaze me and this was one of many stupid things I saw on my 20 min commute, but this was the only one I caught….”

More Rainy Day Duh Moments

I-95, U-405 — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 03:42:38 +0000

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One baby was sleep-walking last night, and the other is nocturnal and eats like a horse. Hence, I’m pretty pooped after a long day of errands. So I apologize for once again dipping into the archives of idiocy, but nonetheless here you go. As we approach rain season toward the tail end of winter, you will once again see more jackholes driving around in heavy rain at any hour of the day without their headlights on. This particular photo was taken on December 12th on Lankershim, north of Riverside, in North Hollywood by the 134 freeway overpass. Part of me sometimes wonders how many of these drivers actually think turning their lights on in the rain is optional. I mean, so many friggen Angelenos don’t signal, even when they see other drivers do it. Do they think signaling is optional, too? Are they too cool to signal? Do they just not care? We clearly have an inordinately large percentage of clueless, oblivious, distracted, drivers in this town, but I would put money that quite a few of these peccadillians actually think such laws and regulations are merely discretionary. I’ve never heard of a conscientious objector to car signals, but alas there you have it.

More Blind Freeway Driving in the Rain

I-95, U-405 — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 05:09:27 +0000

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I want to apologize for my absence this week, but I’ve been swamped with the arrival of the newest member to my family. We’re back from the hospital and are pretty much awake around the clock. With that said, please indulge my sporadic posts for the time being. I’ll be digging through archives, and of course I’ll post any stories (with or without photos) that any of you would like to text or email over to us. Anyway, the above photo was taken a week and a half ago during that single day of heavy rain. We were driving on the 101 Fwy, and you can see firsthand how horrible the driving conditions were. Yet, in this photo, you can count at least four cars (five if you include the one peeking out from behind the freeway median on the other side of the freeway) driving through the steady downpour and misty highway roads without their headlights on. Add the Los Angeles habit of never signaling, and you have your work cut out for you if you want to watch out for other drivers in your rear and sideview mirrors. Someone brought to my attention that some people think they they’re in the clear in these driving conditions because the vehicle lamps in the front of their vehicles are always on. Not so…driving lights (or daytime running lights) are not the same thing as low beam headlights, especially since driving lights do not light up your taillights. On other vehicles, the brightness of daytime running lights are not as strong as low beam headlights, either. Be safe by being visible, people…when in doubt, illuminate your vehicle. It’s not like you’re saving gas by driving around with the lamps off.

Impatient Weaving Punk in Toyota Corolla

I-95, U-405 — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 06:13:53 +0000

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Yo, bro, go on trollin’ the streets with yo’ hard self and yo’ bad ass Corolla (license plate 6MWX). This gym rat in his late 20′s/early 30′s was erratically zigzagging without signaling along Victory Blvd. during rush hour, trying to find the lane of least resistance. Yeah, good luck with that moron. Obviously, he didn’t make any headway with his incessant tailgating, and we snapped this photo at a red light near Van Nuys. Instead of impatiently cutting off other drivers and contributing to the congestion by adding unnecessary brake lights to everyone’s commute, this closeted J-Beebs fan should just stick to one friggen lane and quietly rock out to “Baby” as if he were listening to Tupac. Oh, by the way, someone should tell this foo’ to turn on his headlights at dusk. If he doesn’t change his senseless aggressive driving, at least he’ll be more visible to other drivers who actually do check their rear and sideview mirrors.

Tales from a Firefighter (and Another Boring Rain Photo)

I-95, U-405 — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 19:16:57 +0000

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This was taken a few days ago during Monday’s heavy rain. The old native guy driving this Toyota Avalon (license plate 4VDS) was by no means the only one driving on the roads without his head and taillights on, but there you have it. This was on Burbank Blvd. Never mind the fact that the windshield wiper/headlights law has been in effect for years, but common sense alone should dictate that you want to make your vehicle more visible to others in such inclement weather conditions. Then again, common sense is something many people in L.A. seem to lack.

Here’s a submission without a story from an anonymous firefighter:

“I am a firefighter for a major fire department here in California, and on a daily basis I have to shake my head and bite my tounge. And if we could take pictures of some of these mouth breathers I would have a book . While we’re responding to emergencies, pull to the right and stop people–it’s not that hard. People have no clue or do not care.

We have had people race us, stop, and freeze up. Pass us while we are responding (lights and siren blasting) turn in front of us and act like they don’t see us 20 feet off their bumper. And the only time they will pull over and stop is if they see a police officer. We have had people drive behind us across the driveway across the grass as we back into the station–all to get to a red light. More times than I can count. We had one ASSHOLE go into oncoming traffic with a cop right next to him. Yes, he got a ticket.

We had one lady ( I use that term loosely ) follow us to a rescue and scream and threaten us. Did I mention she refused to pull over for over a mile? And when we finally got around her at a red light, she then followed us to the rescue. A local police officer arrived on scene and wrote her a huge ticket (one for the good guys) . We have had people flip us off and yell because we’re blocking a lane at the scene of a traffic collision. How about driving and parking on the driveway of the station to ask for directions as we’re pulling out to go on a response and saying it will only take a second?

And some of the excuses: 1) I didn’t see you. 2) Thats not how we do it in my country (pick a 3rd world country). 3) I was in a hurry. 4) You’re not a cop. 5) Could not hear you over radio/phone/kids.

I wish we had a cop follow us on every run so they could make a fortune and maybe revoke a few driver’s licenses.”

I found all these stories fascinating to read, and not in a good way. I have personally seen drivers completely ignore the sirens and lights of oncoming emergency first vehicles, but the kind of arrogant, egocentric, clueless aggression detailed above was certainly news to me. First responders always have the right-of-way. And yes, even if they’re coming from the opposite direction, you still must pull over to the side of the road until the vehicles passes. And if pulling over to the side isn’t a feasible option, at least come to a friggen stop.

Having Your Headlights Off in the Rain, However, Is Illegal

I-95, U-405 — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 05:51:12 +0000

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Following up on the same train of thought as my previous post, do you know what is in fact a law? Turning on your headlights whenever your windshield wipers are in operation, regardless of the time of day. Here’s a submission I got from a regular contributor:

“When the rain comes down, the idiots come out. I see four cars with no lights on here. I know you love these shots. It was worse all over town. Numerous cars in the ditch, particularly on ramps and transition roads.”

It’s a myth that it doesn’t rain here in L.A. We have rain season every year. The people here are just too stupid or stoned to either remember how to drive in the rain and learn from their mistakes or build upon their limited experiences of driving in inclement weather.

On a completely separate note, I wanted to give a shout-out to a mobile app called HipSwap. It’s available on the iPhone, and the Android version is coming soon. The app allows you to buy and sell items in your area with friends, your neighbors, and local merchants. HipSwap GPS locates any posted item, so when you open up the app, you can instantly view what’s for sale nearby. And posting items is easy. All you have to do is take a photo or video, price it, title it, and post it. Within seconds, you’re selling your stuff. I a big supporter of local businesses and small town, neighborly commerce. I haven’t personally tried the app out, but it seems like a pretty nifty idea.