Flaunting the city's traffic laws

October 06, 2011

It’s easy to see why Glendale is ranked the third worst driving city in the U.S. This afternoon in the space of about a mile, I witnessed the following:

A battered pick-up truck in the center lane on Glenoaks Boulevard going about 20 mph as cars whizzed by at three times his speed. As I approached and passed, I saw a middle-aged man with a small dog perched on near his neck and a cell phone in his right hand that he was either dialing or texting.

His left arm was flicking cigarette ash out the window, so I guess he was driving with his knees.

As I left the red light going east at Highland Avenue, a woman in a minivan came screaming up behind me flashing her lights. Before I had a chance to react, she was passing me on the right and was well ahead of me.

The best part was when I pulled up next to her at the next red light at Pacific. She rolled down her window and began yelling at me, telling me that I drive too slow. I told her that I was stuck at the same red light that she was. Then she told me to be fruitful and multiply.

As soon as the light turned green she was off like a jet pilot. I saw her again at the red light on Central. She wasn’t any happier.

But here’s the one that takes the cake: As I waited at the red light at Brand, I watched two cars in the left-turn pocket clearly make their left turns after the light had turned red. The second car was a Glendale police parking enforcement Jeep.

How can we expect our citizens to obey traffic laws when our public servants openly flaunt them?

William Collins

Glendale

|

|

|