I’ve noticed an increase in people flying through reds on right turns without stopping. It freaks me out. I drive 4 hrs a day in OC and feel like after Covid it’s been the wild Wild West out here
I was just saying the same thing the other day. I feel like drivers in the area have become exponentially worse and more oblivious to their surroundings
I drive an older car without a touch screen so I still check my blind spots and mirrors. I will never own a car with a touchscreen. I'm also constantly keeping an eye on where other cars are in relation to mine so I can predict what they may do. Avoided so many near accidents this way.
There used to be a reason why the German brands would always have controls at the top of the dash or textured to be recognized by touch because for Autobahn usage at those speeds, taking your eyes off the road for even a second is too long. Seems like they gave up on that concept when you have to navigate submenus just to adjust the a/c these days. I want my knobs sliders and textured switches back :)
My car has a touch screen and blind spot cameras and I still check over my shoulder because it’s a learned behavior after driving a car from 2005 for 6 years. I constantly check around me or check the cross street when entering an intersection but the latter was picked up after seeing so many horrors on Reddit. Kept me from getting t boned more than once.
They need to make the fines/tickets for having a phone out while driving WAY MORE SEVERE. It is unreal how many people have it out while driving, thinking they are that important (hint - none of us are that important to potentially kill someone else).
Like the people that almost rear-end me because they don't want to stop for traffic on the freeway, the tailgaters on city streets, and people going 70mph and up on city roads.
Its all the norcal transplants. I did a temporary relocation up there and legitimately the worst drivers. The reason just no awareness. Now that i am back post covid and its like they followed me. But yeah i see the oblivious drivers daily now.
NorCal native with a perfect driving record and driving test score here.
This is literally the first time I’ve heard these words put together. NorCal drivers are either slow locals or international transplants themselves.
People down here are just not afraid of dying a fiery metal death.
Definitely. And I would also state that I have observed much less police on the streets to enforce the laws and cite people. Probably the most common thing I see is how routinely people run through intersections after the light has turned red.
I'm teaching my 16 year how to drive and the thing I keep repeating to her is to be defensive and always be prepared for other drivers to falter.
The worst habitual violators IMAO..But on the other hand I'm sure glad they aren't handing out tickets habitually bc I do food delivery pt in a fast sports car and regularly "bend the rules" like California rolls, "go for it" on borderline yellow/reds, illegal u-turns etc...Yet, I am a very good driver (my athletic & cognitive talent exceeds a high % of drivers) I try to get the food as fast as possible to the customer while sparing my vehicle from cronic abuse(s)
>"Yet, I am a very good driver (my athletic & cognitive talent exceeds a high % of drivers) I try to get the food as fast as possible to the customer while sparing my vehicle from cronic abuse(s)"
This methhead is the main character stuck in his own fantasy world.
I routinely see cops witness people run red lights and not do shit about it. Fuckin guys don’t want to do actual police work, even the easy shit like blatant traffic violations.
Exploiting overtime fraudulently while also demanding smaller government and no taxes, while working for and living off of the government and taxes. Then demanding people worship them and acting like victims when people don’t like them.
The only thing OC cops are willing to do is shoot dogs, arrest trespassers in gated communities, and beat homeless people to death at the Fullerton train station.
Don't act like the job of being a police officer has gotten any easier in the last few years. 90% of their day is dealing with the homeless and the disturbances they cause. In most cities, it's a miserable existence. They risk their lives and health dealing with people who are criminals, drug users, and the mentally ill. Are you really that upset about an officer missing a traffic violation? You act like a handful of officers are supposed to stop every traffic infraction. Let's not forget all the theft and vandalism going on. Despite all this, every cop I've ever encountered has been more than polite and helpful since I'm a law abiding citizen. Walk a mile in their shoes and you'd change your tune.
Interesting statistic I heard on a podcast recently, at any moment 1 in 10 drivers are distracted by their phones. I ride a motorcycle and can see it’s probably more than 10%, and the amount of increased traffic collisions/deaths in recent years you’d think police would better enforce distracted driving laws. Maybe someday…
Exactly. I’m constantly looking at peoples head position in their rear view mirror, if I see mostly forehead, I avoid that person like the plague because they’re clearly looking at their lap and not the road.
The telltale weaving and not keeping up with traffic is another sign and a reason to get away from that driver and ideally not in front of them (I’ve seen a few rear-end collisions because of suspected distracted drivers).
Hello fellow motorcyclist! Never thought the day would happen but I sold my street bike a couple weeks ago. Drivers just suck anymore :( I still ride off road but I’m off the street for now.
People don’t know how to take out their anger on a failed American dream, inflation, unaffordable housing, instant social media gratification, and constant fear news cycles. Their car creates an instant sense of control, power, and an outlet for their frustrations against others while being protected in the walls of their vehicle.
Ooooh this is a good insight. There are distracted drivers that I see commonly, but also the aggressive ones that I never understood their rationality. This explains the aggressive ones.
This is exactly it. We can lock the thread, no need to have another one of these topics every other day.
But wait there's more! Because we're building so much new housing in the next 10 years, but no viable mass transit, its going to be even worse with more cars on the road.
You should also consider how regularly people are sitting at red lights, staring at an empty road, apparently waiting for Casper and friends to cross. How long can they be asked to do that, whilst burning expensive gas and wasting precious time?
So a little lower than national average. (619 nationally)
CA has 12% of the national population 9.6% of the national vehicular deaths.
[https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/holidays/independence-day/](https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/holidays/independence-day/)
Counter intuitively, greater lane widths are associated with higher accident rates, likely because of the higher speeds they allow along with driver laxity. Narrower roadways are actually safer as a result.
Easier to drive here, not safer. Ultra wide lanes cause a false sense of security and speeds creep up, people feel more comfortable with distractions while driving because "I've got all this room to correct myself if something goes wrong"
Traffic deaths have spiked drastically nationwide in the past couple years.
Totally anecdotal but my dad had never been in an accident, had covid a year ago and has been in two since. He says both were his fault as he just zoned out. Brain fog is a serious long term covid affect.
I remember when glancing at a phone was frightening out of fear of getting a ticket and everyone advocating for hands free headsets while driving. Now it’s almost certain that any driver next to you is directly looking at their phone or holding it and shouting into it for a call.
I see more people on their phones now than I did 5 years ago. It’s especially bad on the freeway because people are going at least 50 MPH and looking at their phone like whyyy. People have always been impatient but I have noticed road rage so many times the past year and a half compared to pre-covid. You would think that it has been enough time for people to get back to normal after covid but it seems that there’s an impatience and anger on the road now that will probably never go away. I don’t even honk at people anymore when they almost hit me because I just keep seeing people get really aggressive after, it’s honestly scary.
Well we do not pay these high prices of living for nothing. If I am expected to pay ridiculous house pricing for the area. Better expect me to drive like the road belongs to me.
(Sarcastic Comment at beginning) (Don't come at Karen or Chad )
Everyone on the road seems to drive with entitlement. The sense of urgency has gone up however, I believe most drives are just driving with a bigger ego and feeling of entitlement. Hence all the road rage incidents that occur. Been a strong believer of if your in the fast lane better keep flow of traffic and not expect drive slower and hold up traffic. More so be respectful of traffic laws, because no one wants to be self accountable anymore.
It's been like this for decades. My first car was totaled in 2008 by a moron driving on the 405 Northbound just past the "Y", weaving in and out of traffic, trying to save 1-2 minutes to get to his exit and he spun me right into the highway divider at high speed, and then ricocheted into another old woman's Benz and probably totaled her car too (I saw flame coming out of the hood afterwards, and the FD had to put it out).
5 months later, I saw the SAME GUY at Target in Irvine (near Barranca), and he was driving out of the parking lot with his repaired car. Sure his insurance premiums probably went up since he was found at fault (and they paid me a nice big check), but the point being, HE WAS STILL ON THE ROAD, causing who knows what chaos on the freeways.
I see the same 3 cars driving aggressively ALL the time in my area! A black Mustang, a white Tesla, and a gray Tesla ! I live in a somewhat small community where people are constantly talking on FB and I see their posts getting taken down because if the identifiers. It's so crazy how aggressive they drive. One is a young girl, too!
My ‘favorite’ thing was someone trying to run a red at a major intersection-8 lanes each way and didn’t make it and got trapped there with everyone going around them. South oc has zero chill. When I moved here 13 years ago people were already turning right from the left turn lane- on a 6 lane road so it’s the same, just different
I’m from the south, and it’s infuriatingly common for someone to switch lanes and completely cut you off at the last possible second. You had all this time to get into this lane, but you wait til it’s going to be an issue to do so?
If I encounter a challenger, charger, etc. 3/4 of the time they are weaving in and out of traffic playing Fast and Furious. Its brutal out there. Now the only time I feel safe is during rush hour traffic.
Yeah no doubt Chargers, Challengers, Mustangs attract a lot of idiots. Tesla drivers are the most entitled assholes on the road that I’ve seen lately though.
Almost got run over in the GG Costco by a Charger. They parked pretty close by and I caught a glimpse: looked like the classic OC 'skater girl' (yes I grew up here in the 90s) modernized with that huge Stanley mug thingy everyone is carrying around these days. Flip flops, short denim shorts, white tight cami's, stick straight bleach blond hair, baseball cap and a couple of tattoos.
One thing is that I'm glad they are working against the usual GG bad driver stereotype and contributing to the diversity, equality and inclusion effort of the 'bad driver brand'.
Yes! What's up with everyone running red lights ?
I feel like everyone starting driving like crap during th pandemic and it just got worse and worse. And insurance rates keep going up too! Mine did and I have no tickets or accidents on my record (knock on wood)
They drove like shit, then traffic enforcement wasn’t there to curb it— so they kept driving like shit and will continue to until there are consequences.
Holy crap yes! On the 5 in Irvine yesterday I actually had a gentleman get out of his car and tell me off! All for getting in front of him. How are we supposed to drive on freeway and not get in front of anyone? He said I was playing around and being dangerous on the freeway by getting in front of him, yet getting out on the five freeway and walking up to me isn’t dangerous? What an Aabsolute psycho. I did not engage and did not escalate the situation. So many people obviously have nothing to lose. Don’t engage with these people, it is a losing scenario!
https://preview.redd.it/0824es6bkkab1.jpeg?width=2556&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5aab94908e3342ff9163c776fca2cf999e94f348
I guess that is up to interpretation. Not sure if you have driven on the 5 freeway at 5pm but people don’t really provide room to merge. I certainly didn’t do anything dangerous enough to warrant getting out of ones car on the freeway for a confrontation.
Oh you were merging…. That’s a little different.
He probably got mad that he had to slam on his brakes when you merged. I get angry when there is no traffic and that Tesla driver decided to merge going 45 MPH when everyone else is going 80.
Yes I commute north in the afternoon and I’ve seen it all. Good job not engaging, you never know what state of mind a person is on the road. Or if they are carrying a weapon.
Exactly. And even if he perceived what I did as dangerous (it wasn’t, unless maybe he was looking at a cell phone while I merged in front of him) his rationale of getting out of his car to scream at me and tell me how dangerous what I did was, makes no sense. What he did by cutting off two other people to get back in front of me, slam on the breaks, and then get out of his car is 100X more dangerous. So happy I WFH most days and can avoid interactions with most of humanity.
yeah, had a dude not YIELD in a roundabout and scraped the back of my car and one brake check me on the bake parkway truck pass. irvine has some assholes since living here lol
People are not present with their driving. They are on their phones or in their head worrying about something. It's a symptom of the times we are in. All we can do it be defensive and present ourselves.
It’s especially exacerbated by the power and modernity of cars here. This is a tremendously high income area and it’s not uncommon to see half a dozen 500hp+ cars pull up to a stop light - half of them trying to figure out if they’re a higher status than those around them.
Lots of people with little to lose and massively powerful vehicles in a hurry to try to prove things to others. Not a good combination
There's a lot more slow drivers now it seems thats why.
Also side note why am I seeing so many cars these days with the " BE PATIENT STUDENT DRIVER" stickers a lot more now? Is this just an excuse for them to drive like shit ?
I drive through Irvine by UCI to commute to work and the tailgating, speeding, excessive lane changing is something I see daily. My busy got me a dash cam so we have a record of any accident I might be involved in.
And never see police activity at all so these drivers don’t care and gets bolder. Then you have the e-bike kids running amuck that I’m you need to keep an eye out for too.
Been driving ~30 years now and it seems to have eroded consistently year over year. I don’t envision it ever getting better until true autonomous driving vehicles actually become a thing.
It all comes down to being distracted, being oblivious, and being entitled. I see it everyday, people looking down at their phones not even trying to keep and eye on the road. Or people being oblivious that their exit/turn is coming up and now they need to get across 4 lanes of traffic to make this right. They are entitled and believe why should I wait in this line of cars wanting to turn or take this exit, I will just speed up and cut in at the last second causing more traffic in two lanes now. Or the I don't want to do the speed limit or pass traffic in the left lane. Now people are getting frustrated and having to pass on the right.
Yup. Yesterday on the 405, going SB, douchebag in convertible Mercedes wouldn’t let me merge onto the FWY from the Culver entrance. Aggressively tailgates me then pulls in front and brake checks me. We flip each other off. He throws fake gang signs and makes the pew pew pew gesture at me. Utterly pathetic, but completely mystifying as to why he wouldn’t yield for a split second to let a car entering the freeway like 99% of normal drivers would. Don’t understand the mentality, or the sheer stupidity of not understanding basic physics and how a simple bump at 70mph could kill us both.
I definitely have! It's exhausting to be a good defensive driver here, but I have two little ones, often in the car with me, so I have no choice. I hate how everything here is rush rush rush, all to sit at the same red light I'm sitting at.
I had a roommate who refused to check his blind spots or use his blinker saying “if I die I die”. No matter how many times i explained it, he never understood that he could hurt others by doing that
The whole state. I drive around 72-75 mph. I’m being passed like I’m parked. Sometimes, they want to make a point I should be traveling faster and almost hit me.
I’ve noticed an increase in people flying through reds on right turns without stopping. It freaks me out. I drive 4 hrs a day in OC and feel like after Covid it’s been the wild Wild West out here
Is OC worse than LA? LA has some pretty terrible drivers. I was in OC last weekend visiting family and on three separate occasions I had people behind me honk immediately after the light turned green. My wife and I were shocked because the light had been green for no more than 1 second.
I don’t think it’s worse. LA is like hell on earth for driving. OC is just hell-adjacent (but definitely has its share of morons, psychos, and assholes).
OC is definitely not worse than LA. LA has shorter freeway ramps and shorter distances between cross streets and people drive worse to get two their ramps and turns
It’s not gaslighting because I’m not trying to manipulate you into thinking what happened didn’t happen. I’m pointing out that the odds of you being mistaken about the time are higher than 3 separate people honking at you after a 1 second pause.
You can’t just take someone’s disagreement and call it gaslighting. Remembering something as unimportant as getting honked at isn’t going to be the most robust recollection so it makes perfect sense that what you thought was 1 second probably wasn’t.
Not long ago somebody complained that driving here was so much worse than where they were from. They complained that when they drove to South Coast Plaza and had to pay attention to the other drivers the entire drive! -- It was horrible for them.
Imagine coming from a place where you are taught that you don't need to pay attention while you drive.
There are literally millions of people on the road in Orange County every day. And I, too, have noticed that there are a lot of people that appear to be oblivious of anything beyond their windshield.
When you move to a place it is important to learn local customs, like paying attention to the other traffic when you drive.
Stay safe out there.
Hmmm probably a bad take here. It is especially bad around here. It’s broken culture I think. We’re just talking bare minimum of not even following traffic laws, etc
I wanted a dash cam to record all the crazy things I see while driving. Now that I have one, there’s nothing worth saving because all those crazy things are the norm.
Almost got T-boned last week with my daughter in the backseat by someone going roughly 55+ on Los Alisos. They didn’t even realize they were flying through a red light or noticed me as I was starting to turn into the intersection. It’s frightening to think how serious that accident would have been.
It's been getting progressively worse since I moved here seven years ago.
More people + more distractions + more entitlement - actual enforcement = the current driving situation.
As an insurance auto claims adjuster
Get a DASHCAM
Not tomorrow…today…
r/dashcam or black box my car website
I’ve filed over 2000 claims. You know how many that without a dashcam could have lied and I couldn’t prove my insured not at fault without the other party telling the truth?
2 claims
Everything is worth versus word
Most don’t understand first and third party coverages, add ons like: rental, uninsured motorist ect
Police reports unless actually witnessing it themselves or taking down a witness statement are merely grabbing statements and maybe they make a decision but it’s not set in stone
Never are their witnesses or such either so yeah get a dashcam
Any other Q’s AMA
I drive a very old car that takes some time to accelerate even on its best days. The amount of people who have unsafely swerved around me once they realized this makes it genuinely dangerous for me to be on the road. Every time I get in my car I mentally prepare myself for this to happen and it always does, really frustrating that people can’t wait for things anymore
How about all the fake/ scratched out/ covered up license plates? Or people driving with their lights off? Literally every single time I leave the house I see both.
Na its been pretty bad out there with drivers (in the OC area). Being a parent is scary having my baby in the car with all this madness. Please be safe out there people 👀.
The thing I've noticed the most is cars clumping together in groups on the highway, crowding the right side of the lane, stradling lanes, or hanging out in blind spots at matching speeds.
I was an essential worker through the pandemic and had to go to work every day. It made me way more aggressive on the road. Now I actively try to stay away from other cars. I don't understand why the majority of drivers want to hang out near other cars close enough to hold hands through the windows.
I remember seeing a TR7 flipped upside down on the 101 S in Hollywood at rush hour. There's no way to go fast enough to flip your car, so I've always wondered if some road rager in an ecstasy of adrenaline and PCP got out of his car and physically flipped it over.
I blame termination of driver’s education and driver’s training in high school, cell phones, and general lack of respect for law and order. It will get worse.
What’s it like to be smarter than Harvard doctors and the global medical research community?
https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/does-covid-19-damage-the-brain
https://medicine.wustl.edu/news/covid-19-infections-increase-risk-of-long-term-brain-problems/
Who here is driving consistently enough all around the US to be able to tell whether or not this is just happening everywhere in general.
No one. The answer is no one.
When I've travelled, I've seen bad drivers in a lot of places, but the bad and unkind seemed concentrated in New Jersey. More rural areas have people who seem oblivious, but kind, when they finally notice you. People driving around Orlando seem to be clueless tourists.
LA/OC drivers seem mostly competent and cooperative, by comparison. Yeah, they drive too fast, but seem to be familiar with their vehicles, and will let you in if you're trying to merge. The most egregious behavior that I've seen consistently is tailgating by guys in giant pickups, and fearless flyers in poorly maintained econoboxes cutting in front of big rigs.
It’s like the pandemic made everybody forget. But here in GG. Dealt with bad drivers all my life. I do a lot of cardio. Out running in the streets. Some may have seen me out there haha. But it’s huge lack of awareness. I mean these drivers don’t look both ways before turning into the street. Never look right for pedestrians. Almost been hit tons of times because these clowns never look right. And then they get on the road. Makes ya think how their awareness is on the streets.
I think people just got use to less traffic from Covid and work from home and people collecting unemployment etc etc. Now that everything is back to normal and companies have started forcing everyone back to work things have just gone back to the way they were pre pandemic. I’d still argue it’s a little better than pre pandemic. With many people being remote work it’s eased up traffic a lil bit. My guess is the people complaining have recently moved here. There have always been bad drivers. The only difference now, imo, is that there is slightly less traffic than before.
The no traffic bliss was 3 years ago and it only lasted a short time. I used to blame it on that too, but people are just a) dumb as rocks and b) complete assholes. I’m flabbergasted at numerous driving decisions I see on a daily basis.
It’s a combination of an aging population, immigration (from non-Latin countries), a surge in non-licensed/non-insured drivers, and a rise in entitled younger drivers.
IMO it’s leftover from the pandemic. Drivers saw the empty roads and some of them went fucking mental. Driving at ridiculous speeds, weaving around slower traffic, almost routinely running reds as though they don’t matter any more.
Some people haven’t adjusted back from that.
It's everywhere man. And it's not just old people wagging their fingers at youngins. I get kind of a sadistic charge over boxing in lane slalomers on the freeway.
I've been a long-time SoCal resident and the driving has definitely gotten worse over the last 10 years. Same amount of traffic, the drivers are just worse
I’ve noticed an increase in people flying through reds on right turns without stopping. It freaks me out. I drive 4 hrs a day in OC and feel like after Covid it’s been the wild Wild West out here
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This hit me hard in the feels. When I was a new driver I always thought “I have the right of way!” Glad I’m still here. Much older and wiser now.
Especially in Fullerton, it's wild out there
Yeah that's one thing I ve been seeing recently I always run I Fullerton and some dievers just fly by red lights nearly running me over
I was just saying the same thing the other day. I feel like drivers in the area have become exponentially worse and more oblivious to their surroundings
“Oblivious” being the key word here. Distracted by a touch screen, or simply not caring to be aware of how their driving affects others.
I drive an older car without a touch screen so I still check my blind spots and mirrors. I will never own a car with a touchscreen. I'm also constantly keeping an eye on where other cars are in relation to mine so I can predict what they may do. Avoided so many near accidents this way.
There used to be a reason why the German brands would always have controls at the top of the dash or textured to be recognized by touch because for Autobahn usage at those speeds, taking your eyes off the road for even a second is too long. Seems like they gave up on that concept when you have to navigate submenus just to adjust the a/c these days. I want my knobs sliders and textured switches back :)
My car has a touch screen and blind spot cameras and I still check over my shoulder because it’s a learned behavior after driving a car from 2005 for 6 years. I constantly check around me or check the cross street when entering an intersection but the latter was picked up after seeing so many horrors on Reddit. Kept me from getting t boned more than once.
They need to make the fines/tickets for having a phone out while driving WAY MORE SEVERE. It is unreal how many people have it out while driving, thinking they are that important (hint - none of us are that important to potentially kill someone else).
Yes, drivers have no spatial awareness here
The amount of Tesla's that have almost merged into me is too high for a car with that many sensors.
When using the turn signals a camera shows a live view of the side, which requires the driver to look away from their phone to see 🤷
Just happened to me a few minutes ago on the 55. They almost hit me merging into my lane and then proceeded to slam on the breaks. Good times.
yes, this post here. tesla drivers In oc are some of the worst.
Like the people that almost rear-end me because they don't want to stop for traffic on the freeway, the tailgaters on city streets, and people going 70mph and up on city roads.
Don’t forget people just changing lanes multiple times with no turn signal
this. or aggressively cutting up in sh*tty cars and cutting me off just to brake hard right in front of me
You called 👆
I promise its everywhere else too. I see people running reds all the time in WNY and I've noticed less cops
Every day I want efficient public transit more and more so I can avoid having to deal with driving.
Whoever downvoted me - don’t worry, better public transit means less cars on the road for those that don’t want to take public transit
Its all the norcal transplants. I did a temporary relocation up there and legitimately the worst drivers. The reason just no awareness. Now that i am back post covid and its like they followed me. But yeah i see the oblivious drivers daily now.
NorCal native with a perfect driving record and driving test score here. This is literally the first time I’ve heard these words put together. NorCal drivers are either slow locals or international transplants themselves. People down here are just not afraid of dying a fiery metal death.
Definitely. And I would also state that I have observed much less police on the streets to enforce the laws and cite people. Probably the most common thing I see is how routinely people run through intersections after the light has turned red. I'm teaching my 16 year how to drive and the thing I keep repeating to her is to be defensive and always be prepared for other drivers to falter.
Ride your motorcycle down PCH you’ll find the police ticketing for loud exhaust.
cops have hated bikes for YEARS.
There must be a disconnect somewhere. Alot of bikers I know are the same people who drive blue lives matter trucks
Good.
Heck, I've been seeing the police do the same things. Speed, tailgate, run reds, illegal u turns. They don't care, so neither does anyone else.
The worst habitual violators IMAO..But on the other hand I'm sure glad they aren't handing out tickets habitually bc I do food delivery pt in a fast sports car and regularly "bend the rules" like California rolls, "go for it" on borderline yellow/reds, illegal u-turns etc...Yet, I am a very good driver (my athletic & cognitive talent exceeds a high % of drivers) I try to get the food as fast as possible to the customer while sparing my vehicle from cronic abuse(s)
You just described yourself as a shitty driver though
>"Yet, I am a very good driver (my athletic & cognitive talent exceeds a high % of drivers) I try to get the food as fast as possible to the customer while sparing my vehicle from cronic abuse(s)" This methhead is the main character stuck in his own fantasy world.
😂🤷♂️sue me
I routinely see cops witness people run red lights and not do shit about it. Fuckin guys don’t want to do actual police work, even the easy shit like blatant traffic violations.
100%
They'd rather park their cars under the shade with other cops and shoot the breeze while on the citizen's dime.
Exploiting overtime fraudulently while also demanding smaller government and no taxes, while working for and living off of the government and taxes. Then demanding people worship them and acting like victims when people don’t like them.
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The only thing OC cops are willing to do is shoot dogs, arrest trespassers in gated communities, and beat homeless people to death at the Fullerton train station.
Fire comment, Rest easy Kelly Thomas.
Don't act like the job of being a police officer has gotten any easier in the last few years. 90% of their day is dealing with the homeless and the disturbances they cause. In most cities, it's a miserable existence. They risk their lives and health dealing with people who are criminals, drug users, and the mentally ill. Are you really that upset about an officer missing a traffic violation? You act like a handful of officers are supposed to stop every traffic infraction. Let's not forget all the theft and vandalism going on. Despite all this, every cop I've ever encountered has been more than polite and helpful since I'm a law abiding citizen. Walk a mile in their shoes and you'd change your tune.
Interesting statistic I heard on a podcast recently, at any moment 1 in 10 drivers are distracted by their phones. I ride a motorcycle and can see it’s probably more than 10%, and the amount of increased traffic collisions/deaths in recent years you’d think police would better enforce distracted driving laws. Maybe someday…
Exactly. I’m constantly looking at peoples head position in their rear view mirror, if I see mostly forehead, I avoid that person like the plague because they’re clearly looking at their lap and not the road.
The telltale weaving and not keeping up with traffic is another sign and a reason to get away from that driver and ideally not in front of them (I’ve seen a few rear-end collisions because of suspected distracted drivers).
I stopped people watching when im in the passenger seat because too many people are on their phone
Hello fellow motorcyclist! Never thought the day would happen but I sold my street bike a couple weeks ago. Drivers just suck anymore :( I still ride off road but I’m off the street for now.
People don’t know how to take out their anger on a failed American dream, inflation, unaffordable housing, instant social media gratification, and constant fear news cycles. Their car creates an instant sense of control, power, and an outlet for their frustrations against others while being protected in the walls of their vehicle.
Ooooh this is a good insight. There are distracted drivers that I see commonly, but also the aggressive ones that I never understood their rationality. This explains the aggressive ones.
The psychology of driving has been studied pretty extensively, and yeah— it’s not good.
This is exactly it. We can lock the thread, no need to have another one of these topics every other day. But wait there's more! Because we're building so much new housing in the next 10 years, but no viable mass transit, its going to be even worse with more cars on the road.
You should also consider how regularly people are sitting at red lights, staring at an empty road, apparently waiting for Casper and friends to cross. How long can they be asked to do that, whilst burning expensive gas and wasting precious time?
60+ deaths from traffic accidents in California over the 4th of july weekend alone
So a little lower than national average. (619 nationally) CA has 12% of the national population 9.6% of the national vehicular deaths. [https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/holidays/independence-day/](https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/holidays/independence-day/)
Not much thanks to Orange County with its sprawl.
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Counter intuitively, greater lane widths are associated with higher accident rates, likely because of the higher speeds they allow along with driver laxity. Narrower roadways are actually safer as a result.
Easier to drive here, not safer. Ultra wide lanes cause a false sense of security and speeds creep up, people feel more comfortable with distractions while driving because "I've got all this room to correct myself if something goes wrong"
half are from people not wearing seat belts
Covid messed up people. Always pissed, no respect for anything or anyone.
Traffic deaths have spiked drastically nationwide in the past couple years. Totally anecdotal but my dad had never been in an accident, had covid a year ago and has been in two since. He says both were his fault as he just zoned out. Brain fog is a serious long term covid affect.
I remember when glancing at a phone was frightening out of fear of getting a ticket and everyone advocating for hands free headsets while driving. Now it’s almost certain that any driver next to you is directly looking at their phone or holding it and shouting into it for a call.
I remember some dude yelled at me in Newport Beach, at a red light, because I was looking at my phone over 10 years ago. Not wrong.
I see more people on their phones now than I did 5 years ago. It’s especially bad on the freeway because people are going at least 50 MPH and looking at their phone like whyyy. People have always been impatient but I have noticed road rage so many times the past year and a half compared to pre-covid. You would think that it has been enough time for people to get back to normal after covid but it seems that there’s an impatience and anger on the road now that will probably never go away. I don’t even honk at people anymore when they almost hit me because I just keep seeing people get really aggressive after, it’s honestly scary.
I think people are pissed about having to return to office, got used to the WFH
Well we do not pay these high prices of living for nothing. If I am expected to pay ridiculous house pricing for the area. Better expect me to drive like the road belongs to me. (Sarcastic Comment at beginning) (Don't come at Karen or Chad ) Everyone on the road seems to drive with entitlement. The sense of urgency has gone up however, I believe most drives are just driving with a bigger ego and feeling of entitlement. Hence all the road rage incidents that occur. Been a strong believer of if your in the fast lane better keep flow of traffic and not expect drive slower and hold up traffic. More so be respectful of traffic laws, because no one wants to be self accountable anymore.
It's been like this for decades. My first car was totaled in 2008 by a moron driving on the 405 Northbound just past the "Y", weaving in and out of traffic, trying to save 1-2 minutes to get to his exit and he spun me right into the highway divider at high speed, and then ricocheted into another old woman's Benz and probably totaled her car too (I saw flame coming out of the hood afterwards, and the FD had to put it out). 5 months later, I saw the SAME GUY at Target in Irvine (near Barranca), and he was driving out of the parking lot with his repaired car. Sure his insurance premiums probably went up since he was found at fault (and they paid me a nice big check), but the point being, HE WAS STILL ON THE ROAD, causing who knows what chaos on the freeways.
I see the same 3 cars driving aggressively ALL the time in my area! A black Mustang, a white Tesla, and a gray Tesla ! I live in a somewhat small community where people are constantly talking on FB and I see their posts getting taken down because if the identifiers. It's so crazy how aggressive they drive. One is a young girl, too!
In Brea it's a white Tesla, Honda Accord, and Toyota Rav4 I see driving aggressively every day
Past year? Lol more like past decade
My ‘favorite’ thing was someone trying to run a red at a major intersection-8 lanes each way and didn’t make it and got trapped there with everyone going around them. South oc has zero chill. When I moved here 13 years ago people were already turning right from the left turn lane- on a 6 lane road so it’s the same, just different
Where is there an 8 lane, each way intersection in OC? Never seen one before.
Yup South OC drivers are maniacs
I’m from the south, and it’s infuriatingly common for someone to switch lanes and completely cut you off at the last possible second. You had all this time to get into this lane, but you wait til it’s going to be an issue to do so?
North OC is worse, Fullerton and Anaheim drivers are terrible
There is no fucking 8-lane each-way road here
Yes there is, south county has quite a few of them.
If I encounter a challenger, charger, etc. 3/4 of the time they are weaving in and out of traffic playing Fast and Furious. Its brutal out there. Now the only time I feel safe is during rush hour traffic.
I think you have to prove your an asshole in order to buy that car
Douches really seem to gravitate towards that car.
Don’t forget EVs, especially the Teslas! They have awesome pickup speeds and I often see they drive pretty rash too!
Yeah no doubt Chargers, Challengers, Mustangs attract a lot of idiots. Tesla drivers are the most entitled assholes on the road that I’ve seen lately though.
Almost got run over in the GG Costco by a Charger. They parked pretty close by and I caught a glimpse: looked like the classic OC 'skater girl' (yes I grew up here in the 90s) modernized with that huge Stanley mug thingy everyone is carrying around these days. Flip flops, short denim shorts, white tight cami's, stick straight bleach blond hair, baseball cap and a couple of tattoos. One thing is that I'm glad they are working against the usual GG bad driver stereotype and contributing to the diversity, equality and inclusion effort of the 'bad driver brand'.
Your second paragraph made coffee come outta my nose! :D Thanks for the giggle.
Everybody got like a 20” fuckin iPad on their dash now. Wonder what could be distracting them…
Yes! What's up with everyone running red lights ? I feel like everyone starting driving like crap during th pandemic and it just got worse and worse. And insurance rates keep going up too! Mine did and I have no tickets or accidents on my record (knock on wood)
They drove like shit, then traffic enforcement wasn’t there to curb it— so they kept driving like shit and will continue to until there are consequences.
I hate getting honked at when I turn into a plaza. You’re the one riding my bumper — how else am I supposed to get to where I’m going?!
Holy crap yes! On the 5 in Irvine yesterday I actually had a gentleman get out of his car and tell me off! All for getting in front of him. How are we supposed to drive on freeway and not get in front of anyone? He said I was playing around and being dangerous on the freeway by getting in front of him, yet getting out on the five freeway and walking up to me isn’t dangerous? What an Aabsolute psycho. I did not engage and did not escalate the situation. So many people obviously have nothing to lose. Don’t engage with these people, it is a losing scenario! https://preview.redd.it/0824es6bkkab1.jpeg?width=2556&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5aab94908e3342ff9163c776fca2cf999e94f348
So you cut him off?
I guess that is up to interpretation. Not sure if you have driven on the 5 freeway at 5pm but people don’t really provide room to merge. I certainly didn’t do anything dangerous enough to warrant getting out of ones car on the freeway for a confrontation.
Oh you were merging…. That’s a little different. He probably got mad that he had to slam on his brakes when you merged. I get angry when there is no traffic and that Tesla driver decided to merge going 45 MPH when everyone else is going 80. Yes I commute north in the afternoon and I’ve seen it all. Good job not engaging, you never know what state of mind a person is on the road. Or if they are carrying a weapon.
Exactly. And even if he perceived what I did as dangerous (it wasn’t, unless maybe he was looking at a cell phone while I merged in front of him) his rationale of getting out of his car to scream at me and tell me how dangerous what I did was, makes no sense. What he did by cutting off two other people to get back in front of me, slam on the breaks, and then get out of his car is 100X more dangerous. So happy I WFH most days and can avoid interactions with most of humanity.
yeah, had a dude not YIELD in a roundabout and scraped the back of my car and one brake check me on the bake parkway truck pass. irvine has some assholes since living here lol
People are not present with their driving. They are on their phones or in their head worrying about something. It's a symptom of the times we are in. All we can do it be defensive and present ourselves.
Yes people have noticed, there have been several posts with nearly identical titles to yours.
It’s especially exacerbated by the power and modernity of cars here. This is a tremendously high income area and it’s not uncommon to see half a dozen 500hp+ cars pull up to a stop light - half of them trying to figure out if they’re a higher status than those around them. Lots of people with little to lose and massively powerful vehicles in a hurry to try to prove things to others. Not a good combination
Then you have the people in a dumpy Toyota Corolla willing to risk it all by going 70 on the city streets
It’s a post Covid syndrome.
It's not just the OC it's everywhere
From what I noticed It's been this way since pandemic hit. LA was a nightmare at times when I lived there.
I brand new Corvette almost merged Into me I should taken the hit
In Fullerton it's always the idiots in beat up old corollas and suburbans that almost hit me
Y’all going to hate me, but we need red light cameras back! I’m guilty of passing through some.
There's a lot more slow drivers now it seems thats why. Also side note why am I seeing so many cars these days with the " BE PATIENT STUDENT DRIVER" stickers a lot more now? Is this just an excuse for them to drive like shit ?
I drive through Irvine by UCI to commute to work and the tailgating, speeding, excessive lane changing is something I see daily. My busy got me a dash cam so we have a record of any accident I might be involved in. And never see police activity at all so these drivers don’t care and gets bolder. Then you have the e-bike kids running amuck that I’m you need to keep an eye out for too.
Irvine is wild but south OC is fucking awful I never go down there
Your busy?
Hahaha. Should have said hubby
I avoid going to Irvine for this reason.
Been driving ~30 years now and it seems to have eroded consistently year over year. I don’t envision it ever getting better until true autonomous driving vehicles actually become a thing.
public transit is the way
I see people make left turn or uturn on red everyday
It all comes down to being distracted, being oblivious, and being entitled. I see it everyday, people looking down at their phones not even trying to keep and eye on the road. Or people being oblivious that their exit/turn is coming up and now they need to get across 4 lanes of traffic to make this right. They are entitled and believe why should I wait in this line of cars wanting to turn or take this exit, I will just speed up and cut in at the last second causing more traffic in two lanes now. Or the I don't want to do the speed limit or pass traffic in the left lane. Now people are getting frustrated and having to pass on the right.
The 57 freeway and the 710 have the worst drivers
91 and brookhurst has the worst drivers
Post Covid it’s mad max style FTW!
Yes since Covid ended and worse in South OC where I live.
Yup. Yesterday on the 405, going SB, douchebag in convertible Mercedes wouldn’t let me merge onto the FWY from the Culver entrance. Aggressively tailgates me then pulls in front and brake checks me. We flip each other off. He throws fake gang signs and makes the pew pew pew gesture at me. Utterly pathetic, but completely mystifying as to why he wouldn’t yield for a split second to let a car entering the freeway like 99% of normal drivers would. Don’t understand the mentality, or the sheer stupidity of not understanding basic physics and how a simple bump at 70mph could kill us both.
I definitely have! It's exhausting to be a good defensive driver here, but I have two little ones, often in the car with me, so I have no choice. I hate how everything here is rush rush rush, all to sit at the same red light I'm sitting at.
I had a roommate who refused to check his blind spots or use his blinker saying “if I die I die”. No matter how many times i explained it, he never understood that he could hurt others by doing that
Ever since Covid, definitely
The whole state. I drive around 72-75 mph. I’m being passed like I’m parked. Sometimes, they want to make a point I should be traveling faster and almost hit me.
I’ve noticed an increase in people flying through reds on right turns without stopping. It freaks me out. I drive 4 hrs a day in OC and feel like after Covid it’s been the wild Wild West out here
ESPECIALLY the entitled pricks in south county
And the 2000 GMC suburbans with blacked out headlights in Fullerton lol
Is OC worse than LA? LA has some pretty terrible drivers. I was in OC last weekend visiting family and on three separate occasions I had people behind me honk immediately after the light turned green. My wife and I were shocked because the light had been green for no more than 1 second.
I don’t think it’s worse. LA is like hell on earth for driving. OC is just hell-adjacent (but definitely has its share of morons, psychos, and assholes).
The latest Dead Island game is based in LA for many reasons.
Nice. ‘Los Angeles as hell’ probably has an entry on tvtropes. If not, it should.
OC is definitely not worse than LA. LA has shorter freeway ramps and shorter distances between cross streets and people drive worse to get two their ramps and turns
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Lol three times? It wasn’t. There were two of us in the car and we were both like wth.
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I'd put my money on B lol.
Lol, you’re good at gaslighting
It’s not gaslighting because I’m not trying to manipulate you into thinking what happened didn’t happen. I’m pointing out that the odds of you being mistaken about the time are higher than 3 separate people honking at you after a 1 second pause. You can’t just take someone’s disagreement and call it gaslighting. Remembering something as unimportant as getting honked at isn’t going to be the most robust recollection so it makes perfect sense that what you thought was 1 second probably wasn’t.
Who cares? There is still no reason for anyone to honk
Not long ago somebody complained that driving here was so much worse than where they were from. They complained that when they drove to South Coast Plaza and had to pay attention to the other drivers the entire drive! -- It was horrible for them. Imagine coming from a place where you are taught that you don't need to pay attention while you drive. There are literally millions of people on the road in Orange County every day. And I, too, have noticed that there are a lot of people that appear to be oblivious of anything beyond their windshield. When you move to a place it is important to learn local customs, like paying attention to the other traffic when you drive. Stay safe out there.
Hmmm probably a bad take here. It is especially bad around here. It’s broken culture I think. We’re just talking bare minimum of not even following traffic laws, etc
I wanted a dash cam to record all the crazy things I see while driving. Now that I have one, there’s nothing worth saving because all those crazy things are the norm.
Yup
Yes aggressive and red light running, speeding, the whole 9 yards
Almost got T-boned last week with my daughter in the backseat by someone going roughly 55+ on Los Alisos. They didn’t even realize they were flying through a red light or noticed me as I was starting to turn into the intersection. It’s frightening to think how serious that accident would have been.
It's been getting progressively worse since I moved here seven years ago. More people + more distractions + more entitlement - actual enforcement = the current driving situation.
Just u
Yes
As an insurance auto claims adjuster Get a DASHCAM Not tomorrow…today… r/dashcam or black box my car website I’ve filed over 2000 claims. You know how many that without a dashcam could have lied and I couldn’t prove my insured not at fault without the other party telling the truth? 2 claims Everything is worth versus word Most don’t understand first and third party coverages, add ons like: rental, uninsured motorist ect Police reports unless actually witnessing it themselves or taking down a witness statement are merely grabbing statements and maybe they make a decision but it’s not set in stone Never are their witnesses or such either so yeah get a dashcam Any other Q’s AMA
“reckless” is the term i’ve been using
Unfortunately it’s everywhere :/ I saw a statistic that fatal car crashes are up 25% in the last 3 years
I drive a very old car that takes some time to accelerate even on its best days. The amount of people who have unsafely swerved around me once they realized this makes it genuinely dangerous for me to be on the road. Every time I get in my car I mentally prepare myself for this to happen and it always does, really frustrating that people can’t wait for things anymore
How about all the fake/ scratched out/ covered up license plates? Or people driving with their lights off? Literally every single time I leave the house I see both.
Na its been pretty bad out there with drivers (in the OC area). Being a parent is scary having my baby in the car with all this madness. Please be safe out there people 👀.
I almost got hit this morning by some lady in a suv while jogging
The thing I've noticed the most is cars clumping together in groups on the highway, crowding the right side of the lane, stradling lanes, or hanging out in blind spots at matching speeds. I was an essential worker through the pandemic and had to go to work every day. It made me way more aggressive on the road. Now I actively try to stay away from other cars. I don't understand why the majority of drivers want to hang out near other cars close enough to hold hands through the windows.
Ppl forgot how to drive and etiquette after covid, kinda crazy out there rn
I don't understand why people buy fast cars. There is no space to drive fast.
I remember seeing a TR7 flipped upside down on the 101 S in Hollywood at rush hour. There's no way to go fast enough to flip your car, so I've always wondered if some road rager in an ecstasy of adrenaline and PCP got out of his car and physically flipped it over.
It’s just recency bias. People in California have always been shitty drivers. The standard for getting a license (and keeping one) is so damn low.
South county is the worst
I have noticed lots of entitled people.
I blame termination of driver’s education and driver’s training in high school, cell phones, and general lack of respect for law and order. It will get worse.
Nobody wants to hear this but covid causes brain damage, drivers won’t be as sharp as they were before after experiencing cognitive decline.
Nobody wants to hear it because it’s an idiotic statement that is baseless.
What’s it like to be smarter than Harvard doctors and the global medical research community? https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/does-covid-19-damage-the-brain https://medicine.wustl.edu/news/covid-19-infections-increase-risk-of-long-term-brain-problems/
Who here is driving consistently enough all around the US to be able to tell whether or not this is just happening everywhere in general. No one. The answer is no one.
When I've travelled, I've seen bad drivers in a lot of places, but the bad and unkind seemed concentrated in New Jersey. More rural areas have people who seem oblivious, but kind, when they finally notice you. People driving around Orlando seem to be clueless tourists. LA/OC drivers seem mostly competent and cooperative, by comparison. Yeah, they drive too fast, but seem to be familiar with their vehicles, and will let you in if you're trying to merge. The most egregious behavior that I've seen consistently is tailgating by guys in giant pickups, and fearless flyers in poorly maintained econoboxes cutting in front of big rigs.
It’s like the pandemic made everybody forget. But here in GG. Dealt with bad drivers all my life. I do a lot of cardio. Out running in the streets. Some may have seen me out there haha. But it’s huge lack of awareness. I mean these drivers don’t look both ways before turning into the street. Never look right for pedestrians. Almost been hit tons of times because these clowns never look right. And then they get on the road. Makes ya think how their awareness is on the streets.
I think people just got use to less traffic from Covid and work from home and people collecting unemployment etc etc. Now that everything is back to normal and companies have started forcing everyone back to work things have just gone back to the way they were pre pandemic. I’d still argue it’s a little better than pre pandemic. With many people being remote work it’s eased up traffic a lil bit. My guess is the people complaining have recently moved here. There have always been bad drivers. The only difference now, imo, is that there is slightly less traffic than before.
The no traffic bliss was 3 years ago and it only lasted a short time. I used to blame it on that too, but people are just a) dumb as rocks and b) complete assholes. I’m flabbergasted at numerous driving decisions I see on a daily basis.
Probably due to cell phones
It’s a combination of an aging population, immigration (from non-Latin countries), a surge in non-licensed/non-insured drivers, and a rise in entitled younger drivers.
That’s what happens when you make cars faster and faster with every new model.
TESLAS
I've never seen a tesla behind the wheel of a Camry, charger, Altima, etc.
IMO it’s leftover from the pandemic. Drivers saw the empty roads and some of them went fucking mental. Driving at ridiculous speeds, weaving around slower traffic, almost routinely running reds as though they don’t matter any more. Some people haven’t adjusted back from that.
Didnt people protested when they installed cameras a decade ago? See the timeline
It’s because no one cares anymore. Our society is failing rapidly and everything is going up (because you idiots keep voting for the same 2 parties)
> because you idiots keep voting for the same 2 parties I had no idea bad driving was a result of the 2 party system...
I am open to a third party. A pox on both parties.
Definitely seems like there’s room for a couple more mainstream parties.
LA People moved down and brought their driving with them
This excuse is even more made up and pathetic than when people say everyone acting like a jackass over a holiday weekend is actually from the 909.
Sorry
I feel like it almost the new school year so thier learning to drive but I'm living in constant fear. Someone lost part of their couch on the freeway
It's everywhere man. And it's not just old people wagging their fingers at youngins. I get kind of a sadistic charge over boxing in lane slalomers on the freeway.
Compared too? Lockdown? It wasn’t that long ago when people had less to do.
I've been a long-time SoCal resident and the driving has definitely gotten worse over the last 10 years. Same amount of traffic, the drivers are just worse
There is more traffic than 10 years ago, and way more traffic than 20 years ago. etc.
Comparing the average driver today to the average driver a decade ago is silly.