L.A. Can't Drive » mirrors

Clueless Grandpa Pulling a Split Second Exit

I-95, U-405 — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 06:47:51 +0000

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The old, borderline senior driving this shizzy Dodge Grand Caravan (license plate 5HYX) is a perfect example of the litany of oblivious driving that complements the aggressive assholes in this town. We were driving on the 101 Fwy N heading toward the 405 Fwy interchange. This clueless fool was pacing us to our left in the slowest 101 through lane (I think it was the #3 lane). The other lanes on the freeway clearly feed into either the 405 Fwy N on S on-ramps–plenty of signs and very clear lane markings. Nonetheless, when the lanes bordering the 405 S on-ramp and the 101 through lane became solid white lines and started diverging, baby boomer here decides to cut over at the very last second directly in front of our bumper. All this was happening during very light, mid-day traffic. There was plenty of time for him to signal his intention and then change lanes to his right, either in front or behind us. Yet for reasons unbeknownst to us, he pulled a stereotypical L.A. maneuver of exiting a through lane (either to an interchange or an exit) at the last possible moment. To this day, I still have no idea why so many drivers–particularly the ones who aren’t overtly aggressive–do this. I mean, seriously, are there really that many drivers mentally checking out from behind the wheel? Plan ahead, gramps….and while you’re at it, check your mirrors and blind spots before changing lanes.

Insane Driving – A Side Effect of the Recent Heatwave

I-95, U-405 — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 05:59:38 +0000

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I have a story to share with all of you from one of our regular readers attached below. But before you read that, I need to share this photo of the lady driving this black, brand new Toyota minivan that we took today coming from the Topanga Plaza Mall. If it looks like she’s just hugging the right side of her lane, in reality it’s a photo of her in the middle of changing lanes. Yes, that’s correct, she was attempting to squeeze her vehicle between the two white cars you see in the photo. The red arrow actually shows her general path of lane-changing, all the while clearly neglecting to check her sideview mirrors and/or blind spots, since she nearly collided into, not one, not two, but three different vehicles in this one sweeping maneuver. She exited shortly after somewhere in Woodland Hills. Personally, I would rather christen a new vehicle with a nice detail job rather than a multi-car collision on the freeway.

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.

Psst, Check Your Mirrors Before Pulling Away from the Curb

I-95, U-405 — Mon, 17 May 2010 01:43:28 +0000

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The likely native driving this old black Ford pickup truck (license plate 5X1) was cruising around with his driver’s side sideview mirror turned inwards. And since I don’t have a FAQ section yet, I will reiterate that I am aware that transplants to this state can buy used cars that have older license plates on them. As a result, not everyone driving an older vehicle with older CA plates is a native. (With that said, if you see new CA plates on an old vehicle, that’s a guarantee that you’re dealing with a recent transplant.) However, as a transplant myself and as someone who knows way more transplants than natives due to my profession, most of us brought our old cars with us. Do we purchase used cars? Duh…of course we do. But it would be naive to give the benefit of the doubt every single time we see an older vehicle with older CA plates doing something idiotic or assholish on the road. Transplant or not, the clueless/aggressive drivers on this blog live here now, and we all have to deal with that reality. Just this weekend, I got in another rear-ender with a Ford F150 whose driver wasn’t paying attention and thought his foot was on the brake. We were in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the I-5 South near the 10 and 60 interchanges. There was also a slew of pretty bad accidents on multiple freeways this past Saturday morning. That’s 3 rear-enders in 4 years (living here full-time) versus zero rear-enders in all the time I was driving in NY. Given the many hours that we spend behind the wheel in Los Angeles, we need to be that more vigilant about not losing our focus while driving. I’m sure the driver of this Ford pickup parked on a narrow street and didn’t want his sideview mirror knocked off by a passing vehicle. However, you’re supposed to check for traffic before you pull away from the curb….correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that involves looking at your blind spot and both the rearview and sideview mirrors.

Clueless Blind Nerd in Focus

I-95, U-405 — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:20:39 +0000

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You’ve heard me talk about the juvenile “gangsta lean” behind the steering wheel. Well, senior citizens also stereotypically have a lean or slant while driving: hunched forward, chin below the shoulders, elbows bent with forearms resting on the horn, and hands grabbing the wheel at 11 and 1. Oh, and let’s not forget the all important “senior squint”. However, the driver of this Ford Focus was not in fact a senior, but rather a kid in his 20′s driving with a “senior slant”. Apparently, he also had the vision of a blue hair since he nearly shaved off my front bumper as he casually drifted in front of me from my right on Moorpark in N. Hollywood when the #2 lane turns into a right-turn-only lane at Vineland. Sure, some people do try to pointlessly leapfrog over as many cars as possible using turn-only lanes as passing lanes, but this nerdy-looking kid with thick glasses probably just couldn’t see where he was going. Not only did he not signal, but he started changing lanes before his car cleared the front wheels of my vehicle–seriously, not OK. Check your mirrors and your blind spot, moron. If you’re too blind to drive, then get off the friggen road.

Poorly Kept SUV Blindly Drifting in Front of Traffic

I-95, U-405 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 05:04:34 +0000

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Here’s another moron in a Ford SUV. The short fat lady driving this red Ford arbitrarily pulled out of a parking space by the curb on Moorpark directly in front of my vehicle. The fact that she didn’t signal before merging is pretty common here, but pulling out into traffic without looking is just plain idiotic. Her stopped vehicle was also harder to see since she only has one working taillight (the rear right…she’s actually braking in this photo), which was obstructed by another parked vehicle. She beelined it for the center left turn lane, again without signaling, and made a left onto a side street about half a block later; apparently, she is of the mindset that one does not need to check for traffic or signal for any turns or lane changes if one only plans to travel on a given road for a short distance. What made this all the more infuriating was that she barely accelerated throughout this entire maneuver, essentially coasting diagonally from one stopped position to another directly in front of traffic. Some people just never get it. Well, let’s look at the bright side: if she ever becomes brain dead from serious head trauma in an auto accident that was completely her fault, it wouldn’t be like she’s missing anything in the end.

Inconsiderate Behavior During Rush Hour

I-95, U-405 — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 06:26:47 +0000

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This power-tripping lady in her late 40′s needs a serious wake-up call behind the wheel. I took this photo while stopped at a red light under the 405 Fwy overpass on Wilshire in Brentwood. This posturing, self-absorbed biznatch was too busy chatting away into the Blackberry she had in her hand to either notice or care that she was obstructing an entire through lane of traffic as she sat in two lanes at once. Her destination was the rightmost lane that takes you to the 405 Fwy N on-ramp. She was also stopped a good hearty distance behind the truck in front of her and could’ve easily moved up a bit to get the fat ass of her Ford Explorer out of the way. She’s probably always too absorbed in striking business deals while driving to even pay attention to her mirrors and traffic around her. 6 cars easily could have scooted by, which is no small number when you deal with heavy Friday afternoon rush hour traffic. When the traffic lights turned green, drivers who wanted to continue east on Wilshire had to patiently sit behind her while she took her sweet-ass time moving completely over to the rightmost lane. If not moving when a light turns green is an L.A. sin during rush hour, not moving and unnecessarily obstructing traffic will send you straight to commuter purgatory.

Another Lemon on Our Streets

I-95, U-405 — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 04:26:30 +0000

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This is pretty benign as posts go on this site, but this transplant (or maybe he was just driving through) from Ohio was putting around Cahuenga in Hollywood in this beaten up old Saturn. The flap over his gas tank was dangling, along with the sideview mirror on the driver’s side. The mirror wasn’t good for much else than looking down at the pavement by his rear left tire, since it was haphazardly duct taped at a downward angle. Well, if this guy really did just move here, he’s doing a fine job contributing to the plethora of lemons we already have on our Los Angeles streets. If this guy wouldn’t fix his car in Ohio, I doubt he’ll make repairs with the higher cost of living in L.A.