LA Drivers: GET. IT. TOGETHER.

Okay, I get it. It's one of the most populated cities in the nation so naturally there's going to be traffic. But the truth is that even though traffic is unavoidable, stupidity IS avoidable. 

Every morning when I commute to work, there's always idiots on the road. Whether it's somebody driving too fast, driving too slow, not turning on their blinkers when they're going to make a turn, blocking an intersection, not letting someone go through when you're at a standstill, or almost running over a pedestrian. I encounter all of these on a daily basis. Even on days when I'm going to my weekend job and it's only 5 minutes away. 

Usually it's drivers in nice douchey-type cars who think they are exempt from the rules of the road. But don't get it twisted-- I've seen it from shitty cars too! I used to walk to and from work, since it's only a 20 minute walk away from home and that's how I got my exercise, and it was as if I was invisible to most drivers.

One time I started crossing the street, on a crosswalk, and some lady in a Lexus screeched to a halt almost hitting me. This lady had the audacity to honk at me and flip me off. What?! I'M the one getting honked at when SHE wasn't paying attention to the stop sign? It's not like if I was jay walking, because THEN she would have every right to honk at me. The AU-DACITY!

This wasn't the first and only time that happened. It was a common occurrence to the point where I got used to it and stopped getting so mad about it. Should it even be something I get used to? Should I even feel like I'm risking my life just walking home from work? 

I will say that because of the road rage I encounter on the daily, I do not take chances and I've been safer walking and observing my surroundings. One could never be too safe. I had a friend who was walking with me to the store around the block from our apartment and she almost got hit by a car coming off the freeway. She didn't even flinch. This was probably 5 years ago and I hadn't been living in the San Fernando Valley for long, so I was shocked to say the least. Her reaction?

"Dang it, that's a nice car. I could've sued for money!"

Uhm, what?!?! I thought she was crazy until I started to encounter similar reactions in the coming months with other people. Unless everyone I kept running into were crazy themselves...

Point is, drivers need to get it together. People need to remember that we are ALL trying to get somewhere, and we are all stuck in the same mess. There's no need to be reckless and it's time to use your brain on the road. Stupidity and carelessness causes accidents, and accidents only leads to more traffic.

Capisce?