L.A. Can't Drive » impatient

L.A. Drivers Don’t Fare Well in Best Drivers Report

I-95, U-405 — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:37:49 +0000

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I went south to Costa Mesa for a few days to celebrate my wedding anniversary with my family. As always, freeway driving is more or less the same, with your fair share of vicious tailgaters and lane weavers. However, people do tend to signal more down south and are certainly more courteous on surface streets. A friend of mine sent me this article from laist.com that summarizes Allstate Insurance’s 6th Annual “Best Drivers Report”. Out of the 193 largest U.S. cities, Glendale came in at 191, which means your chance of getting into an accident there is 70.8% higher than the national average. Los Angeles ranked 183rd (44.7% higher). San Diego, interestingly enough, ranked 103, or 8.3% elevated Accident Likelihood, which makes it the second safest city for cities with populations over 1 million. So maybe L.A. really can’t drive, but at least it drives better than Elizabeth, Jersey City, and Newark–all proud members of the inimitable state of New Jersey.

Anyway, we were coming home traveling north on the 405 North. We were quite thankful that the freeways were practically empty on the last day of a 3-day holiday weekend. Nevertheless, we couldn’t help but notice the gradual decline of driving quality the closer we got to L.A. The photo of this brand new PT Cruiser (no plates) driven by some bald dude in his early 30′s was by no means the worst offender, but it’s the only photo we got. When we neared LAX and traffic thickened a tad in the carpool lane, instead of waiting for a dotted white lane opening (like the one you see in this photo), this jackass yanked his steering wheel to the right without signaling and cut right in front of another driver. It’s bad enough that drivers typically don’t expect other drivers to cross double yellow lines, but to execute such a move where there was no clearance is both selfish and asinine. Needless to say, the maneuver was pointless since this fool ended up actually traveling slower in #1 lane than he would have been had he stayed in the carpool lane.

San Francisco vs. Los Angeles – Redux

I-95, U-405 — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 04:33:50 +0000

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So we’re back from San Francisco, and it has been almost 2 years exactly since I last did a comparison between SF and LA. We flew up there this time around and didn’t rent a car, so I was seeing everything from a pedestrian’s point-of-view. Perhaps I was a bit kind in my August 30, 2007, assessment of the driving ability in this town, or perhaps I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I actually witnessed one really bad collision (involving a sedan, a minivan taxi, and lots of airbags) and two very near misses that could’ve gone quite badly. The taxi drivers are as bad as the drivers in NY, though they are actually more dangerous since they can go much faster in less traffic congestion. They also signal way less than the taxi drivers in NY. In fact, the frequency of signaling for everyone I saw driving in SF went down on the whole from 2 years ago. Furthermore, there were more instances of leapfrogging at traffic signal regulated intersections. I don’t recall seeing any instances of leapfrogging from drivers other than taxi drivers 2 years ago. This has apparently changed. I’ve also noticed more drivers rolling through stop signs. In fact, one of the near misses involved one guy blowing through a stop sign and nearly getting T-boned by a service van. Now how about the positives? People were definitely doing more driving and less anything else while behind the wheel. If you told me that you saw something trying to fry an omelet in the passenger seat in LA, I wouldn’t be phased. In that respect, SF drivers are more like NYC drivers with a focused aggression behind the wheel. For the most part, the drivers up north are still very attentive to cyclists and pedestrians. Additionally, I only saw 2 drivers driving around at night without headlights on (one on each night I was there), and as we know that percentage is considerably better than anything you will see in LA. So there you have it…taxi drivers are insane, more aggression, less signaling, and on the other side you have more awareness of cyclists and pedestrians, proper usage of vehicle lamps, and less distractions while driving. Oh, I also saw less drivers holding cell phones are texting while driving, so that’s a big plus in my book.

I didn’t get any photos (I couldn’t whip out my phone fast enough), so I dug through the archives and found one of this BMW 328i on La Brea in Los Angeles. This impatient jackass was driving behind me in medium traffic and somehow felt the need to pull up beside me at Wilshire Blvd. at a red light. When the light turned green, naturally he gunned it and cut in front (no signaling) while missing parked cars in the curb lane by several feet. This type of mini-drag racing really boggles my mind since there is such a clear disparity between risk and reward. Then I suppose if you incorrectly treat driving like a game, concepts of safety and responsible driving become moot.

On a side note, I’ve done some freelance writing for Brand X, a publication affiliated with the L.A. Times. You can read my articles on the Bus Riders Union, digital road rage, and the new ignition interlock law here.

Honking, Tailgating, Impatient Gravel Hauler

I-95, U-405 — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 05:04:59 +0000

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This one really got my goat. OK, no I don’t own any farm animals, but I’ve always wanted to use that expression in something I’ve written. So there we are. This was taken sometime last week on the 101 Fwy South. We were cruising along in traffic that was moving quite nicely when we suddenly heard the honking horn of this impatient, road raging gravel-hauler. It was traveling in the second to slowest lane on the freeway behind some clueless jackass in a minivan that was traveling around 55 to 60 MPH and driving considerably slower than everyone else around him. So, yes, a big thumbs down for the oblivious driver in the minivan. If he were going to drive that slow, he should’ve at least been in the slowest lane of traffic. And if the minivan driver feels that cars on the freeway are moving too fast for him to keep up, then maybe he shouldn’t be on the freeway in the first place. Regardless, that doesn’t give the driver of this multi-ton vehicle the right to honk and viciously tailgate another vehicle on the road. I didn’t get a good look at the license plate or the name of the company associated with the vehicle, or else I most certainly would have reported him to his employers. Needless to say, this was taken on Monday, August 2, at around 2:30 PM, in case some random owner of a construction company happens to read this post and knows that one of the company’s employees was on the 101 Fwy S (between the 405 and the 134) around this time. It’s a long shot, I know, but it’s worth a try, especially since this driver clearly has some anger management issues and needs a serious reality check on road responsibility. We snapped this photo after the truck managed to pass the “offending” vehicle.

Clueless Aggressive Troll in Mercedes

I-95, U-405 — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 20:05:11 +0000

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Yes, I know you can hardly see the car circled in the picture. Regardless, if you happen to come across a punk in his late 20s/early 30s with dark gelled hair who drives a white Mercedes (license plate starts with a 6) like a hunched over senior citizen grabbing the wheel at 11 and 1, then you’d better watch out. I kid you not, this idiotic worthless piece of crap comes zooming up behind me in the slowest lane of the 405 Fwy N and nearly rear-ends my vehicle. Let’s for the time being forget about the fact that I just had my bumper fixed from another freeway rear-ender a couple of months ago. Then, this mouth-gaping impatient jackass starts riding the ass of my vehicle so hard that I could’ve sworn I was towing him. Mind you, we’re all traveling at 65 MPH. He then yanks his wheel to the left, cuts off another driver, jams on his accelerator, passes about 3 cars (including my own), and then cuts right back in front only to exit as you see here at Skirball Center Dr./Mulholland. Are you friggen kidding me? L.A. is chock full of aggressive, impatient, dumb as sh*t assholes like this jacknut. Seriously, did he have to reach that red light that’s waiting for him at the end of the off-ramp a few seconds sooner to the point that he needed to drive like a chicken with its head cut off? There’s no rhyme or reason governing how some people behave, and there’s no avoiding them even when you’re driving in the slowest lane of traffic.

Lazy and Impatient Infiniti on I-5

I-95, U-405 — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 06:09:09 +0000

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Say what you will about carpool lanes delineated by double yellow lines. The law says you’re not supposed to cross them, so you should wait until the dotted white line entry points whether you like it or not. Even if you could care less about the law, you should at least keep in mind that drivers either in the carpool lane or in the #1 freeway lane might not be expecting you to suddenly merge in front of them across double yellow lines. Therefore, if you must cross these lines (ie. some jackass lane-blocked you from exiting at a legit point and now your exit is coming up fast), do everyone a favor and both signal and check for neighboring traffic.

Anyway, what about two sets of double yellow lines? Well, in the eyes of the law, two sets of double yellow lines is analogous to a raised median; in other words, you’re essentially off-roading illegally for a split second in the eyes of the law if you, say, suddenly veer over to your left from the #1 lane as the driver of this speeding light periwinkle Infiniti did on the I-5 South near Harbor Blvd. (without signaling, naturally). To say that traffic was light was an understatement….we were all going about 70-80 across all lanes. Needless to say, this guy was both too impatient to wait for a legit opening into the carpool lane (which came about 10 seconds later) and too lazy to properly pass the white SUV (minivan?) that was moving “too slowly” for him by using the the multitude of legal lanes at his disposal.

Another Jackass Who Thinks Driving is a Game

I-95, U-405 — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 02:56:51 +0000

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It’s hard to see the circled BMW convertible in this photo, but I had to share. I took this right when the light turned green and this selfish, arrogant piece of cow dung started to leapfrog over cars in the #2 lane by using the unmarked curb lane for parked vehicles. He did this every single friggen time we hit a red light intersection. How do I know this? I kept apace with him just by staying in the #2 lane. It’s like I’ve always said: senseless, aggressive behavior rarely gets you anywhere faster than if you just drove like a normal human being. This toolbag incessantly weaved back and forth between the #1 lane and the curb lane for parked cars without signaling, unapologetically cutting off drivers the entire time we were traveling west on Camarillo/Riverside in N. Hollywood and Studio City. Not once did you see this cocky toerag turn his head to check for clearance, as if it were the responsibility of other drivers to suddenly brake and accommodate his impatient, erratic behavior. And do you know why this town has so many drivers who do this? It’s because law enforcement allows them to get away with it. I don’t understand how a town that will ticket you for jaywalking across an empty intersection at a drop of a hat thinks it’s perfectly acceptable for aggressive assholes to have mini drag races at countless intersections. It’s almost as if deeming something as reckless behavior only applies if the offender isn’t in a vehicle.

Tailgating Seconds Before the Exit – Why?

I-95, U-405 — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:35:01 +0000

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It’s been awhile since I addressed this classic fave act of senseless aggression from some of L.A.’s finest. Some people are so fed up with traffic in this town that they imagine congestion when it’s not even there. These drivers start demonstrating this frenzied impatience by humping your rear fender like a manic dog in heat whenever they near their exit on the freeway or their turn off of a major thoroughfare. And they do this even when there’s little to no traffic on the road. In this particular scenario, I was traveling north on the I-5 approaching the 134 Fwy interchange. As I signaled to my right to enter the lane that will feed me to the 134 Fwy East, this toolbag in a shizzy old Honda sped up to “lane block” my attempt to merge and started getting towed by the truck you see in the photo–at least that’s what it looked like. This selfish, impatient moron wanted to get off at Forest Lawn Dr. (as he did shortly after this photo was taken) so badly that god forbid any other driver get in front of him this close to his exit. Hell, he would’ve pushed the truck out of his way if he could, even if doing so only meant that he would travel 5 MPH faster (before braking at the off-ramp anyway). By the way, traffic was going at about 65 in his lane when this photo was taken. There’s no way you can reason with or make sense of road raging drivers like this guy. Logic and the big picture will never apply in their narrow-minded, primeval ways, and you can only do your best to avoid them on the road.