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.

“Tickets?? Who cares!! Every day for the last week, the female driver of this Exploder (yes, Exploder) has been parking at the infamous hydrant. And every day, she has been ticketed, but she still continues to do it. Even after I told her that law enforcement will ticket her vehicle, her answer was she does not care; she lives right over there and does not want to walk too far because the parking sucks here. Well duh!!”

So just because the parking sucks in your area and you’re too lazy to walk your ass an extra block or so, that makes it absolutely kosher to back into and block in another driver’s car while illegally parking too close to a fire hydrant? The self-entitlement in this town never ceases to amaze me. Just today, as my wife and I were running errands on Black Eye Friday, this crazy wench blows through a stop sign at a two-way stop sign intersection, nearly hits our vehicle, and refuses to acknowledge us or her erroneous behavior as I leaned on my horn. Good thing she didn’t hit us because I also had my son in my car. Anyone risking the safety of my family, especially while pulling these twat-yanking maneuvers, will get reamed a new asshole, and I will do everything in my legal power to make sure this person pays out the maximum allowed by law in insurance premiums and liability claims.

“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.

“Hanford is south of Fresno and west of Visalia along Hwy 198. One Hanford driver was slapped with a ticket for driving while talking on her cell phone. Officers say she was so distracted, she didn’t realize she drove right by a C.H.P. officer who then followed her for several minutes with his lights on as she pulled into a drive-thru line. “I was behind her for a couple minutes and she never reacted,” said C.H.P. Officer J.M. The officer eventually got her attention when he got out of his patrol car and stood outside her window. “I had to physically get out of my car, walk up to her door, and contacted her at her drivers side window, at which time she was still on the phone — still had the phone up to her left ear, still having a conversation,” said J.M.”

Now, I don’t know if the jackass in this Chevy SUV was equally as distracted and forgot where he was going, but I do know that he was in the wrong friggen lane. We were traveling north on Beverly Glen and were stopped at a red light by Ventura Blvd. in a left-turn-only lane. This silver Chevy SUV (license plate 5NYY…go Yankees! Boo Chevy driver!) was in the through lane to our right. When the light turned green, this erratic troll yanks his car to the left and cuts in front of a left-turning car in front of me. Naturally, the driver in front of me honked as he tried to avoid the collision. I’m sorry, but if you missed your turn, would it have killed you to travel a few hundred feet to Moorpark and then double back to where you wanted to go in the first place? Of course, this concept of self responsibility and accountability doesn’t exist for a vast number of our sucky drivers. If these asshats make a mistake, they still expect everyone else around them to pay for it. Anyway, Mr. Clueless Chevy gunned it on his wide left turn and then zipped in front of another car in the #1 lane going west on Ventura. When I snapped this at a subsequent red light, I noticed that he had a broken taillight. That’s not surprising, given the fact that someone who drives like an apathetic jackass could hardly be expected to properly maintain his vehicle.

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.

Anyway, speaking of morons, someone should tell this clueless brunette in her 30′s that her PT Cruiser (license plate 6DUS) has absolutely abysmal crash test ratings. I snapped this photo in my sideview mirror as she was cruising down La Brea near Beverly at 8:30 at night without any headlights on. Hell, even the street lamps were on, which in my opinion don’t turn on early enough during daylight savings evening hours. Many cars have tinted rearview mirrors, so drivers like Lil’ Miss Clueless are even less visible to others on the road. Mind you, she wasn’t alone in this regard, as there were plenty of blind drivers on the road in my old stomping grounds.