My list of pet peeves has definitely shrunk now that I am a domestic creature (only get out of the house for about an hour a day and don't interact with people), but alas there are still things that manage to get under my skin.
L.A. has a different culture, but I'm beginning to realize that its stringent pedestrian laws are preferable to what the rest of the country (especially the East Coast) has......a free for all. Pedestrians just act like they are the kings of the road with no regard for walk signals or even green lights for the cars, walking right onto incoming traffic at times. The most dangerous is this apparently consensus custom to start walking through the sidewalk even though cars are coming across the road, let the car go by within about an inch of hitting them, then keep walking. Basically, the pedestrian is anticipating the car's rate of speed and trying to time their steps so that the car will just barely get by. I call it the "walk-up," and the "walk-up" is super dangerous. My philosophy of driving (as everyone's should be) is defensive driving, so as to limit the amount of damage as possible and mitigate the risk of getting into an accident. So when I see a pedestrian up ahead starting to move into the cross-walk, I get ready to tap the breaks, not knowing if that pedestrian is going to slow down or not. The pedestrian gettin started on the "walk-up" basically forces me to read their body language and their eyes to see if they see my car and will let me pass, otherwise if they don't see me, they might just keep walking into where I am going! It's like a game of chess, and driving should never be like a game of chess.
Hello Motorcycle/muscle cars who make a lot of noise with your vehicles for no reason, you are giving a bad name to all motorcyclists/ loud car owners. A terribly negative externality, especially in urban areas with lots of other people having to listen to such a jarring noise, and especially bad for people like MJ who just did a night shift at the hospital trying to get some sleep during the day. Have some respect; your loud motorcycle revving doesn't make you look cool, or give you positive attention; it just makes the world a worse place for everyone around you. If you do choose to do it, my hope is every time you try to go to sleep someone revvs up their engine and makes sure you're not able to fall asleep.
People who take up the whole sidewalk even while seeing me coming. Most people will notice aother person coming along and give way to accomodate, but some will just play a game of "chicken" on the sidewalk daring the other person to keep going straight; if neither person they'll just bump nose-first into each other.
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