Wednesday March 23rd 2005 09:36 AM PST
If you're going south on the 110 freeway as you approach downtown Los Angeles, you pass the Hill street exit. The exit is on the left and as everybody knows, if you want to save a few minutes you can play the asshole game. Fly down the left exit lane as quick as you can and then jump into traffic at the last second. If you're in the left lane that is not the exit lane, you have to watch out for these people. There is a broken white line where they are suppost to get over. You always let people over here. Its just the thing you do. Then the line turns solid white. People usually jump over at this point, even though its "frowned upon". If people are signaling, you let em over. But then the left exit lane splits into two lanes. Actually, the left lane of traffic also may exit at this point. The exit lane at this point should already be long on its way to moving down Hill. Just after that, the left exit lane becomes the shoulder, and the freeway continues on. Usually if you're at this point, you no longer have to worry about people cutting in. Cause in order for them to cut in on you, they have to cut across that exit lane and all its fun, then drive on the shoulder, then cut in. So i was at this point.
brand new BWM SUV with dealer plates flies up on the left with no blinker on. I'm fuckin amazed that she's there, but then i realize that she's on her cell phone. She can't turn on her blinker, cause she would have to take the phone away from her left ear. I'm figuring that she's also driving on the shoulder, cause she has no clue that the lane she was in was an exit lane. So this is where it gets funny. She is slowing down, honking, and swerving directly into the side of my car like she's going to make the lane change into my driver's side door. She slams on her brakes, (still no signal) swerves and cuts off the guy behind me, drops behind me, gets directly on my rear bumper, and starts to give me the finger.
Camera is already sitting on my seat
She makes another quick swerve lane change and gets into the middle lane. She's pulling up on my right side now, to give me a piece of her mind i believe. What she does not know is that a CHP unit is in the right lane. He's been there since the 5 freeway interchange. I saw him pull on the freeway there, and i've been driving steady at 55 along with the rest of traffic.
She pulls directly next to me. Cell phone still on her left ear. Right hand comes across to give me the finger. At this point i have the camera already snapping shots. She's so into giving me the finger, that she does not notice the CHP unit drop in behind her and light her up.
It was a bright day with beautiful clouds, so the pictures were not too clear of her, but there is no doubt, she's got no hands on the wheel.
Wednesday March 23rd 2005 11:35 AM PST
Did you get the license plate number?
Posted by:
URL:
http://www.southpasblogs.com
Wednesday March 23rd 2005 11:52 AM PST
That's beautiful. Gives hope to everyone who has to drive on LA's freeways.
Posted by:
URL:
http://www.danielglasser.com
Wednesday March 23rd 2005 01:42 PM PST
one of rare events when the cops ARE there when you need them!
Posted by: Anon
URL:
Wednesday March 23rd 2005 02:07 PM PST
it was a brand new SUV. Still had the dealer plates on.
Posted by:
URL:
http://www.iriggs.com
Wednesday March 23rd 2005 02:37 PM PST
Check out this site, it speaks the truth, sad as it may be:
http://womeninsuvs.blogspot.com/
Posted by: ted
URL:
http://womeninsuvs.blogspot.com/
Wednesday March 23rd 2005 03:30 PM PST
Brilliant, simply brilliant.
Posted by:
URL:
http://www.advicegoddess.com
Wednesday March 23rd 2005 03:56 PM PST
To quote the wise sage "Nelson" from "The Simpsons" - "Ha HA!"
Posted by: greg dewar
URL:
http://dewar.journalspace.com
Wednesday March 23rd 2005 04:02 PM PST
Bless you, you made me laugh. I love nothing more than reading about poetic justice on the freeway, for lord knows it's hard enough getting from A to B out there without the asshats of the world swerving around flipping us off while on their cellphones (no hands on the wheel - nice!).
Posted by:
URL:
http://lavoice.org
Wednesday March 23rd 2005 04:50 PM PST
this is the best post I've read all day. Amazing!
Posted by:
URL:
http://www.seanbonner.com
Wednesday March 23rd 2005 06:23 PM PST
Really, this story has it all, the set up, the SUV, the luxury car, a clueless cell phone driver, confrontation and pictures, all puncuated by justice.
Better than that stupid cell phone movie from last year.
Posted by:
URL:
http://www.lablogs.com
Wednesday March 23rd 2005 09:46 PM PST
Oh my god. I have been cut off so many times on the 110, the freeway of death, and I'm so happy that someone has finally gotten a little bit of comeuppance. I don't know if I could have resisted pulling over and watching her actually get the ticket....
Posted by:
URL:
http://klikkonthis.blogspot.com
Wednesday March 23rd 2005 10:57 PM PST
Ah yes. Nothing better than being caught flipping the finger with a photo that makes it look like you've shoved your digit halfway up your nose, just before getting nabbed by the cops.
Posted by:
URL:
Wednesday March 23rd 2005 11:57 PM PST
It's no goddamn wonder people get shot on the freeways in L.A. with assholes like this driving aroung...in fact, the wonder is that is that it doesn't happen more often!
Posted by: Anon
URL:
Thursday March 24th 2005 12:03 AM PST
Huh? She can't put on her blinker 'cause she has to hold the steering wheel in one hand and her cell phone in the other, but she's able to give you the bird? I think I'm missing something. Did she drop the phone just so she could give you the bird? What a road-villain! It reminds me of when an ex-girlfriend a few (OK, more like 15) years ago was driving in a packed station wagon in bumper-to-bumper traffic when she noticed that an ultra-compact car was following her WAY too closely. Knowing that the guy in the compact couldn't see past her car, she quickly swerved to avoid a slow-moving van in front of her and let the tailgater crash right into the rear-end of the van. Another case of instant CARma. :-)
Posted by:
URL:
http://www.kengreenlee.com/random
Thursday March 24th 2005 12:25 AM PST
Hah, I hope somebody recognizes her here and she gets a fair ribbing :D
How did you get the photos and still be able to drive? or is there another blog about some eratic driving person with a camera in their hand .. hehe
Posted by: Linux Chick
URL:
http://wishes.debian.co.nz
Thursday March 24th 2005 12:36 AM PST
what hand was aligning the line of coke?
Posted by:
URL:
Thursday March 24th 2005 02:39 AM PST
By the way, a fun trick for all of you who drive southbound on the 110 on Hill. There are some nice routes through Chinatown on surface streets to bypass the four-level traffic mess and get back on after the clog. Oh, and it also avoids most of these merge-morons. Hint: Figueroa Street. :)
Is it just me, or is traffic getting much worse out towards the West Side these days?
I'm moving back to Pasadena before I am killed by the kinetically gifted socially retarded menace...
Posted by: Jeff Baitis
URL:
http://baitis.net
Thursday March 24th 2005 04:38 AM PST
yea!!!! there still are civil people out there that remember drivers education basics,I'm in new york and any typical day i see at least 10 out of 12 drivers talking and eating or putting on make up or doing god knows what, expecting you to read their minds when they need to turn, thanks for hope that there is a little justice out there!!!!!!
Posted by:
URL:
Thursday March 24th 2005 05:59 AM PST
I love it when karma makes somebody their bitch. I had a similar incident with some butthead weaving madly in heavy traffic and cutting everybody off. All of the sudden, the non-descript car behind me lit up. It turned out to be an unmarked police cruiser. Ha! Ha!
Posted by:
URL:
Thursday March 24th 2005 07:12 AM PST
I miss LA.
Posted by:
URL:
http://laxpat.blogspot.com
Thursday March 24th 2005 08:40 AM PST
Did she drop the phone just so she could give you the bird? No look at the picture. She is not holding the wheel!
Posted by: Anon
URL:
http://www.pspondering.com
Thursday March 24th 2005 08:44 AM PST
that ***** deserves moer than a finger shoved back, oh sweet karma where are you the other 99.5% of the time,too bad the photog. wasn't somehow legally forced to acidentally take off a side view mirror or some other item I doubt she knows how to use. Dealers can add zeros like"Merlin"to the price of items damaged thus.Especially when proof of negligenge is soobvious and documented. ("swerve" oops "crunch" oh well.)
Posted by:
URL:
http://@yahoo.com
Thursday March 24th 2005 09:09 AM PST
i love it! so many times i've wished some justice on people that abuse their driving priviledges, and refuse to *share* the road that's there for *everyone* to use, not just them. that's excellent! quick thinking with the digicam!
Posted by: brian
URL:
http://www.schuss.net
Thursday March 24th 2005 09:23 AM PST
She's got man hands!
Posted by: billabOng
URL:
Thursday March 24th 2005 09:31 AM PST
Dave, you should tell them about the time you saw the person on their cell phone in the car get caught with one too few hands while having to turn the wheel, so they accidentally dropped the phone out the window and ran it over :-)
Posted by: Yams
URL:
Thursday March 24th 2005 02:58 PM PST
Ok, this one is for Yams
Awhile ago i was exiting the Pasadena Freeway at Fair Oaks. There are two lanes that exit, and the right lane can go straight or turn right. The guy in front of me is talking on his cell phone at the light. The light turns green and he gets stuck doing one of those lazy-ass-one-handed single-hand-spin turns. He's trying to make the right turn while still on the phone. He gets into the right and i drop into the left lane, but he never really makes the full turn. He instead ends up driving at an angle out of the right lane and into the left lane, and almost into the side of me. He can't hold himself in the right lane with one hand for the phone. As he drifts into my lane, he is shocked that I'm there. Well that's obvisous. Because he's got the phone up to the left side of his head, he can't see that I'm directly to his left. In a moment of shock, he throws up his left hand to grab the wheel, so that he can control his car and stay in his lane. Inadvertantly he pops his phone direcly off his bicept, then off the edge of his open window, then directly onto the pavement. He begins to slow down, but the guy behind him is annoyed with how slow he's been driving. He's got no chance to just stop, and the guy behind him runs over his phone. I see the guys reaction. Its very similar to the look Casey Affleck has when his remote control truck gets smashed in Ocean's 11. I just always wonder how the person on the phone felt as they were run over by a car.
Posted by:
URL:
http://www.iriggs.com
Thursday March 24th 2005 04:07 PM PST
i have no problem speculating that the mysterious finger is attached to tv's own:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005362/
Posted by:
URL:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005362/
Friday March 25th 2005 03:28 PM PST
About 20 years ago on the same freeway, near Pasadena, another a**hole (probably the father of the driver you saw) came up behind me, weaving in and out of traffic like there was no tomorrow. The Pasadena Freeway was Southern California's first freeway and looks it -- very narrow, with only three lanes (and 90 degree on/off-ramps!). Well, this guy cuts in front of me and everyone else, doing way past the speed limit. He was driving a new convertible BMW, with paper dealer plates. About a quarter mile later, after muttering a few curse words, I see his BMW flipped over on the freeway, with him on the curb with his head in his hands. Karma, indeed!
Posted by:
URL:
http://www.kewlsville.com
Thursday March 31st 2005 04:39 PM PST
yes this is beautiful.. love it so much.. wish.. there was a cop every time some asswhole did this...
great work...
great pictures we can see enough...
yeahhhhhhhhhhhh
hahahahahahahah
Posted by:
URL:
http://latinastyln.com
Tuesday April 5th 2005 12:11 PM PST
Good god that is glorious! I remember well the days I had to navigate the 110 daily, thank goodness we've finally moved down to OC with the soccer moms.
Posted by: Chompy
URL:
http://www.bitey.org
Friday April 8th 2005 11:37 AM PST
So yesterday, it was a lovely day here in NYC, so I biked to work, going up 6th ave from the World Trade Center to the mid 30's west. Parts of 6th ave have a bike lane, but that's far too dangerous a spot to ride -- too many asshats think of it as a nice spot to double-park. And too many times I've been hit by cars making sudden left turns with nary a signal nor glance.
Around 20th, I was zipping along in the left lane, holding the middle of the lane to myself, and not feeling bad about it because I was going faster than the two lanes to my right, and holding a safe following distance to boot.
Then I heard a light honk becoming deeper, more insistant. Before I got a chance to look behind me, a taxi cut into the bikeline and passed me on the left. She passed within about 3 inches of the cars on her left, and 1/2 an inch of my handlebars. Only to pull into the space in front of me and then have to stop as she hit traffic. As I passed, she decided to start yelling at me, to explain how I don't the laws of the road. All this with three passengers in the back.
Used to be, you needed to know the laws of the road to get a hack license. And there I was with neither camera nor phone to share the joy. And by the time I got to work, in shock, I couldn't recall if her hack medallion was 15G1 or 1G51. gah.
I'm not blocking traffic. I am traffic.
Posted by: critical (m)ass
URL:
Friday April 8th 2005 11:38 AM PST
Note, you'd get much better photos if you had your passenger take them. You know, any of the many passengers you have in your vehicle as you carpool on the 110. You do carpool, don't you?
(But then, I lived in Pasadena for 10 years without a car, so I'm clearly some sort of loon).
Posted by: spaz
URL:
Friday April 8th 2005 02:34 PM PST
Agreed! spaz is some kind of loon.
Posted by:
URL:
http://laxpat.blogspot.com