Every work day I cover 25 miles to work and then 25 back home. Often encountering drivers that make me wish for yearly or bi-annual behind the wheel testing. After a few close calls (and friends telling me I must be making some of this up) I decided to purchase an inexpensive dash camera that turns on and off with the ignition. These posts are pieces of the near daily antics encountered driving in the Antelope Valley and beyond.
So on my home from work I am waiting for the traffic to clear so the person in front of my and myself can make our left hand turns. I watch as opposing traffic make right turns and then we both move forward. As I am looking to where I plan on being I see a little dust above the car tops from someone driving the shoulder. Then my camera and I see it. Some young driver had decided that to make the green light and left turn he would just get out of the line of traffic, crossing the double yellows into on coming traffic so he could get to the turn lane ahead of other drivers.
Crossing double yellow NO PASS zone lines is usually a really bad idea. When there is heavy traffic in the area it is a terrible idea. The young man driving is extremely lucky that the drivers heading against him were PAYING ATTENTION and SKILLED enough to dodge.
SO this morning on the way into work I was doing the speed limit of 45 MPH on 90th Street East heading northbound. I had just passed the junkyard driveways approaching the signal. I see a person do what is called a California stop. You know, where a person slows just enough to look both ways but never actually stopping. Well that numb nuts did it within seconds of me entering the intersection and then, in that shiny new car, decided not to accelerate. To make it more entertaining the person decided to also brake and yank a touch right when they realized I was literally right behind them.
Lesson to learn: Come to a complete stop at any intersection where there is a stop sign or you have a red light for your direction of travel. Secondary lesson: Accelerate! Braking when someone is coming up behind you quickly is the incorrect choice.
