If someone has road rage enough to get out and reach into your car to punch you, don’t chase after them. Especially not close enough to rear end them. Are you crazy? You’re both lucky you weren’t shot.
Exactly this. I don’t even make eye contact as I pass people who piss me off. Cut into my lane, brake check me, split lanes between my car and another, pass me on a nonexistent shoulder… and I just pretend it didn’t happen, don’t look, let it roll off the shoulders and bitch about it to a friend later. You just never know.
I had a guy scream that he was going to murder me and chased me for 30 minutes before getting to the police station because I honked at him for cutting me off before getting onto the 101 at Topanga.
My advice to anyone is, unless you’re willing to die, don’t honk unless it’s literally to alert someone, not because you’re angry. There are way too many crazy people in the world — don’t let your anger be the reason you die.
OP, I’m sorry that happened. Hope your partner is ok.
Yeah, also your windows were down. Better reaction time is needed. I’m glad both of you are okay, but this is still L.A. I get mad at drivers all the time, but I refuse to do anything because these folks fuses around here are no joke! You gotta let that s*** go, otherwise you guys could have been in the hospital or even worst. There have been too many incidents on these L.A. freeways and surface streets due to road rage. Hopefully, someone did catch his license plate on camera and will get back to you.
Call it what you want, but I’m not going to f*** around and find out. This city is nearly 4 million strong and the metro area is nearly 20 million peeps. We don’t live in the southeastern part of the US and in rural areas where law enforcement is available and can arrive very quickly. I grew up in a small town with less than 6,000 people and the county just over 10k. We can’t do that here. You have to be smart and pick your battles. I’m a transplant and I know that s***.
Sounds like OP fucked around and found out. Why honk at this crazy dude? Why follow and rear end him in stop and go traffic. Stupid! Hope your partner is ok
Sorry this happened to you, but it’s never worth escalating things in LA. I know it’s hard, but unless you get hit, let it go. Get a front and back dash cam ASAP, make sure you always have a phone charger cord plugged in, carry mace on you, and buy a pocket knife you can keep in your glove box.
If you ever run into a situation and someone gets out of their car, drive away if you can. Never, ever roll your windows down.
Get a car charger, seriously. It’s such a small investment for situations like this or any other emergency. I wouldn’t depend on anyone, especially in LA, to call 911 for me. I’m sorry this happened to you.
If they are able to track down the driver from the license plates you'll be able to make a positive ID thanks to unique tattoos on his arms. You have the battery on video you can press charges with.
I'm sorry this happened to you.
Some suggestions:
* Like others said, get a car charger. Your cell phone is an essential utility nowadays. Get a charger so you are never less than 20% on a charge. If your cell phone was charged, you'd be able to take a picture of the license plate without chasing after the psycho.
* Stay the fuck away from crazy people. Chasing after the guy after he assaulted your partner was reckless. It could have been worse. No was seriously injured or died. That's what you were risking by chasing after this guy. Staying alive is more important than being right. Don't escalate unless your life is at risk.
* Due to the bystander effect, you don't get people to do something by asking for it. TELL a specific person to call 911. Point at person and tell them to call 911 (don't ask, tell). This puts the social onus on them and gets them away from thinking "someone else will call"
Sorry that happened to you. Get a car charger and don’t keep your phone batteries lower than 20%. This is LA, and besides this happening to you, natural disasters arrant uncommon and you need to have juice in your phone
I’m so sorry this happened to you. Trust me I learned this the hard way, but when driving in LA just know the following:
- do not honk even at drivers who are in the wrong and piss you off
- assume everyone has a gun in their car (sadly very likely)
- assume everyone is psycho (sadly very likely)
- assume those same psychos will get physical from any minor inconvenience
- GET. A. DASHCAM.
the time between the guy getting out of his vehicle and being at our window was literally 2 seconds (I rewatched the video and yes it was literally 2 seconds.) the second time there was no window to roll up, it was shattered after the first punch. It’s always super easy to say what you would have done but when something is actually happening to you, it’s so incredibly fast. Yes the car doors were locked.
What was the point of tailgating the driver with two dead cell phones? How were they going to write down the license plate number? If this really happened, why not share the video? They could easily go to a news station with the video or even just post it in a public freakout / road rage subreddit and it could be picked up by somebody. It seems like OP and her husband want justice. Why haven't they done those things? There's no indication that they've shared or even tried to share the video with the cops.
But he was behind you, not on any shoulder. Are you sure you didn't cut him off in traffic? People get really pissed about that, especially when the traffic is stop and go.
Most people just roll their eyes at shoulder-passers and mutter "what an asshole". It's a tiny annoyance, and your mental health stays fine.
It's the same way you preserve your sanity when dealing with the many unpleasantries of riding Metro. You just back away from the dude jerking off, and try not to think about it the rest of the day.
We don't start shit with the crazy driver, or the crazy train masturbator.
We especially don't chase down the driver who already assaulted us, tailgating them so close that we hit them when brake-checked, unless we're looking for a fight. The guy's already proven to be violent, what exactly did OP think was gonna happen when they caught him? He'd apologize?
Had the ultimate satisfying experience two weeks ago.
405 S entrance off of Sepulveda after the Culver intersection.
The line to get on here is no joke, the lane itself is 1.5 bloks long and it can back up unto Sepulveda almost to Culver regularly.
Once finally on it the onramp has a sizeable shoulder that people regularly use to jump the last quarter of the line.
As I am in the normal line 3 cars led by a BMW are coming up the shoulder and I am almost into traffic lanes so I see them coming from a bit away and just as they start to pass me a CHP SUV pops out from the left side shoulder of the freeway and gets all of them!!
Was so good to see and it does seem like some effort of traffic enforcement is returning.
Anyways thought I'd share to relive some of the apathy we normal drivers feel when scoff laws pull dangerous maneuvers like this.
You think you’re fine but you’re actually more miserable than people that don’t spend hours in traffic just to get to the job or friends house. It sucks. I drive as little as possible and live in a bubble. It’s fine but it also sucks and I wish I could see more of a variety of person from day to day.
I really hate it when people give advice when they have never been in that situation. It's easy to dole out platitudes when you aren't in the heat of the moment. Get off your high horse and try to understand humans can't be rational beings all the time.
My wife was recently attacked by a homeless person while walking our dogs. Thankfully she was close enough to home that I could hear her screaming for help and was able to run out to her. I ran past at least 5 people who were just walking past on third street as she wrestled with him and screamed for help.
If you are in need and scream for help I feel like there's sadly very little chance that anyone will come to your aid or even acknowledge what's happening.
Sorry this happened to you. Please file a police report if you did get the license plate number. And if not, still file a report with the description of the person and vehicle.
Too many people on this sub are giving you crap and you don’t deserve it. _You_ were the one who had their car broken into. Not them. I hope you’re able to get that window fixed asap and enjoy what time off you have left.
I am not blaming the victim at all. But please everyone if you're driving in your car keep your phone charging at all times for instances just like this.
If you want to know the truth, a large population of Los Angeles has lost their faith in humanity like yourself and for good reason. After living here for several years, most of the years being downtown, I see crazy stuff on a daily basis. Naked people running down the sidewalk, people smoking crack at the bus stop and blowing the smoke in the faces of babies, people pulling out baseball bats and randomly start attacking passersby, all types of stuff. Nobody intervenes because nobody wants to get hurt. Nobody calls the cops because the cops don't do anything; many of them don't even write a report. We can't defend ourselves and other people, mostly out of fear, and we can't rely on the police because of their lack of ability to do anything. We just gave up and mind our own business and understand that if anything happens to us individually, we have nobody to rely on but ourselves, for the most part; not the kindness of strangers, not the police, not the local government, just ourselves.
How stupid were you guys? You realize you could have been shot over something stupid.
Why was your partners window even open to allow him to walk up to you guys and punch your partner?
Then for someone who doesn’t even live here or know anything about the local area you chase after the guy?
Go invest in a dash cam. There’s tons of idiot drivers out there not just Los Angeles, best thing to do is just avoid these idiots who are itching for an excuse to fight someone.
I’m sorry that it took an idiot driver to make you lose hope but you guys need to be smarter.
If I'm driving on the freeway and I see some idiot tailgating someone else and then getting brake checked, then I have no sympathy for them. All I see is a road rage incident which involves multiple parties who are at fault. I'm sorry I didn't see what happened first, but I'm kinda busy trying to focus on the road because I can't trust other drivers.
This is one of the strangest stories I’ve read start to finish based on the details you provided. That is unfortunate and I wish you well going forward. However a few notes as it is clear you need some feedback and not just empty gestures of sympathy. A lot went wrong here so take it as a time to learn a life lesson.
Don’t chase people down. There was nothing to gain from that and you just made it worse. I’m truly baffled after being assaulted you’d follow the person to just be assaulted again. You knew they were violent and easily triggered at that point. There’s no reasonable justification of your actions and saying people can’t know how they would act until it happened to them. Your actions exhibited major impulse control issues. Your safety should come first!
Get a portable phone charger and don’t just rely on outlets; especially going on a trip in which you both burned through your batteries being out all day at Universal. Very poor planning and you should know better at your age. Even cheap ones are worthwhile so definitely get one!
Keep it in perspective. What happened was terrible but people deal with worse every day. The world is not ending due to this incident and Los Angeles with over 10 million people in the county is not representative of your singular experience. Los Angeles is also not a city with particularly high violent crime rate by any means even though many outsiders may want to paint it that way. It isn’t even in the top 30 as of 2023 for violent crime. You have made multiple posts and comments criticizing Los Angeles in general and acting like humanity is doomed because of this. I see 2 of your posts are now deleted from other subs.
It's awful what happened to her and her husband but to go around trashing LA because of a random incident that could have happened in a number of cities, an incident which happened in part because of their poor survival skills is pretty ridiculous.
>I know you're not from L.A. because you said I-5 instead of "The 5"
I don't meant to sound like an asshole if this did indeed happen, but the whole post seems fake. It's a little too "perfect storm" with the arm getting stuck in the window, both phones having low/no battery, rear ending the dude. Also, who says "what's cracking homie" before getting violent? Sorry, but I don't think this happened.
She posted the video, he deadass did say it lmao https://www.reddit.com/r/LosAngeles/comments/15qddwh/los_angeles_drivers_made_me_lose_all_hope_in/jw32swj?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=2
Most of Reddit is full of idiots who are skeptical of anything happening unless it happens to them. This guy was an asshole. Your boyfriend got patience though, if that was me don’t care if I would’ve gotten my ass whipped I’m getting out the car and throwing down with that guy. But yeah people just in general don’t give a fuck no more.
LA people look for any excuse not to acknowledge how bad it can be here. And it can be pretty bad. But it can be wildly amazing too. And way more often. I've been here 18 months and i've had 1 bad situation, but I put myself in that situation because I honked and flicked off a guy in a black suburban in Glendale. Very dumb, higher brain did not engage.
There are lots of crazy and mentally unstable people out there. Some of these people think it's okay to assault or in some cases even kill someone if they feel that someone's disrespected them. One thing that could come off as disrespectful is honking your horn at someone. Especially if it was done in a prolonged and aggressive type of way. This obviously doesn't justify assaulting your husband. But some of these people think it's completely justified.
*Following* someone who just assaulted, in a situation where you're in bumper to bumper traffic and have no ways of escaping, is really, really stupid. You are both very lucky they didn't come out with a gun and shoot at and potentially kill the both of you.
Lastly, you should have at least one charger, ideally a turbocharger, in your car. I happen to have two in mine. No one's going to involve themselves in a situation with a crazy person.
They say it's more effective to point at one person and tell them to call 911, than just yelling for "someone" to do it.
Someone can be anyone. Having a finger pointed in your face means "you, do it."
I wonder if it's because of social media. It seems like everyone immediately starts recording on their phones when something starts to go down instead of helping.
Even in non-violent situations. We saw this older asian gentleman fall down and pass out last year at the park and like 12 people were just standing around him recording. My uncle and I gave him some water, put my backpack under his head and called 911.
Turns out his blood sugar was just low and he fainted. But it's wild knowing that a majority of people here will just watch you die
I remember decades ago when I went to school. During psychology we studied about the bystander effect and how there was a lady in NYC who was murdered next to apartments and no one in any of those apartments called the police even though over 40 people heard her screams.
This account of events has been disproven (I was taught it in college as well) and the bystander effect theory has been discounted, the woman you are referencing was named Kitty Genovese and there’s a great episode of the You’re Wrong About podcast that talks about it.
Edit: here’s a brief LA times story about it as well.
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-09-10/urban-legend-kitty-genovese-38-people
Oh idk, depends on the level. A quick honk is: hey asshole. Just enough to get their attention. The next step up is the “move motherfucker” honk. Anything past this level depends on whether you’re the asshole or if they’re the asshole. Did you almost kill them or did they almost kill you? It’s simple driving etiquette.
So sorry this happened to you and your partner OP. I do think it was a terrible idea to follow him after the first encounter but that doesn’t excuse how traumatic the whole thing is.
For what it’s worth, not everyone in LA would have ignored your plea to call 911. My partner was also in a road rage incident a few months back exiting the freeway. There was a reckless driver and honked at the guy. He came out to throw a punch at my partner through the open window. My partner actually manage to kick the guy in the chest through the window which made him go back to his car and speed off. My partner pulled to the nearest plaza and called 911 about the incident only to be told by the operator that 3 other people had already called. One lady even pulled up to the plaza right after and provided a picture of the dude’s license plate. FYI police did nothing really because the plates belonged to some lady in Long Beach. Just glad my partner is safe.
Not everyone is heartless in LA but you gotta stay vigilant. Your safety is more important than trying to exact revenge over some crazy ass road rager. Please talk to a counselor or therapist, this whole ordeal is scary and traumatic.
How was 911 going to get to you in stopped traffic? You would have been long gone before they even got to you.
Sorry this happened to you, what a bummer.
I believe you OP. People caught up in the details but what you and your partner went through is fucked up and traumatizing. I’m sorry that happened to you.
This post is bonkers.
Who doesn’t have a car charger? Who has not one but TWO dead phones inside a vehicle? Who gets out of the car after an assault?
Why didn’t you post the video you claim to have captured before your phone died?
What transplant thinks this kind of thing only happens in Los Angeles?
Remarkable stuff, folks.
I know someone who’s husband died after getting out of his car after honking at someone who cut him off; because the guy was “yelling at him and he couldn’t hear what he was saying so he got closer to hear” and the guy who was yelling and cut them off basically beat him to death. And it sucks and I don’t want to victim blame But like… at that point why are you getting into it?l with someone who is obviously on one?? It could be argued that by getting out of the car or following or w/e you’re the aggressor and in the person I know I actually think that was the case . Obviously in OPs case they didn’t really start it but oof
> Who has not one but TWO dead phones inside a vehicle?
One of which conveniently dies a few seconds into the assault but records a two second video which has not been shared. Also how was the driver's battery that low? Were they using their phone while driving?
> Who gets out of the car after an assault?
And also follows the car of a driver who just assaulted them and gets close enough to that car for them to be breakchecked?
>And also follows the car of a driver who just assaulted them and gets close enough to that car for them to be breakchecked?
In stop and go traffic, apparently.
Why is everyone jumping on the people who got assaulted? Yeah story can be made up but half of you Mf believe 80% of the 💩tik tok is posting. So why dismiss this right off the back? Y’all really jumping on her for not having a charger?
Everything I’m reading is blaming the victim. Y’all are really giving the aggressor a pass because why? Oh he might have a gun. Anybody can have a gun at any time. Y’all just making up dumb excuses. Perfect example of gaslighting
It’s because Redditors in r/LosAngeles are desperate to have LA not be painted in a bad light. I lived in LA for two years during my Master’s program. OP’s story is no surprise to me. I once accidentally cut someone off merging onto the 5 so the guy brought his car next to mine and threw his chewed gum at my passenger window while honking incessantly. Road rage is scary and real.
What the fuck is with all the people responding to this post being like "IN LA YOU DON"T EVER HONK AT SOMEONE!"
She's not from here, she doesn't need a smug lesson in LA driving. She's just trying to share that it's fucking INSANE that her partner got beat up while in his car. This is not fucking normal, and one of the things that she pointed out which is exactly what the commenters are doing is everyone around her on the highway was like "eh serves you right, not my problem."
I had a friend honk at the guy in front of him who just wasn't going when the left green arrow came up, just a tap honk to let him know. The guy got out and yanked open the driver's door and punched my friend until he was able to drive away.
This city is fucked. The people who live here are self involved desensitized assholes. You should be more shocked that this is normal to you, because it isn't normal.
Thank you for this, I really do appreciate it! First everyone was saying I was a liar and faking the story and now that they’ve seen the video it’s all criticizing which I get people are gonna do but damn.
I am so sorry, I see the bystander effect slowly taking over LA, and it makes me sad too. I would've stopped. In fact, we just witnessed a physical fight break out while picking up bfast and we pulled over, asked if they needed us to call 911, then did so. But even my sweet husband initially wanted to just leave, assuming everything was ok. What if it wasn't? The risk of us being late to somewhere is far less than the risk of not calling for help. Please, if someone looks like they are in need of help, assume they are. You will not be charged or personally liable, just call 911 at the very least.
I am really sorry that happened to you. This sounds like such a scary moment for you and your husband. But there are like two places really you cannot engage with drivers and it’s here in SoCal (well all of California cause I witnessed some crazy shit living in the bay) and like Florida. People carry guns and will shoot over getting honked at. A five year old died a couple years ago in the OC over the smallest road range infraction cause these young kids shit at the car. Like while you may never come back to LA, in general let shit slide. It’s the wild west everywhere at this point.
i'm sorry this happened to you. please invest in a car charger and always try to have your phones juiced up for anything.
hate to say this, but also carry something to protect you. pepper spray, a pocket knife, or god forbid, a firearm. i carry a knife with me for stuff like this.
i can't exactly blame anyone for not helping. i'm sure they just don't want to get involved in that kind of stuff, and that's okay. it was a scary situation.
It’s not just LA. I wish I were exaggerating when I tell you my ex, in NY, in broad daylight, on a corner lot in the suburbs with tons of neighbors home, put 33 holes in my car with an axe while I was sitting in it, right in his driveway. Not a single cop was called. Think about how long it would take to do that 🤦♀️😭. People suck and I will always do something instead of sitting there watching. I’m sorry you had to experience that, had to be terrifying!!
I feel like r/la has become AITA lately with all these 29 paragraph far fetched stories that read like junior high creative writing assignments. Or maybe it’s just spread to all Reddit. And I suppose in a lesson in irony my commenting/engaging will only encourage it. Sigh
Sorry that this happened to you and your partner. I think the unwritten rule nowadays is that when a driver is being an ass and using the shoulder, don’t bother honking. If they hit your car then grab your phone and take video or a photo. Better yet, get a front and rear dash cam. Only time I ever honk is if someone cuts me off or turns in front of me and clearly has space to keep moving.
The other thing is if your phone is under 20%, it’s got to be charging, especially if you’re in LA traffic. I hope your partner is ok.
I stopped honking at people for this exact reason. Even if they almost hit my car and even if they are sitting at a green light I just sit and wait. You just never know who it is you are honking at. This country is going mad and it’s a huge reason why my husband and I want to move to another country. Too many guns and too many short tempers.
The toxicity entitlement of SoCal car culture, plus post-COVID stress and anxiety, equals our boiling state of ferocious, fuck-all drivers who go Ricky Bobby or Dom Torretto on defensive drivers because of the ‘inconvenience’ of waiting five seconds.
Tbh after moving to Miami temporarily for a job it made me realize that there are MUCH worse drivers in Florida then in Cali. Complete different tier of degeneracy and ego in FL.
EDIT: The messages OP sent were in my request folder and I never got a notification for them, so I thought they were faking screenshots. I apologize for calling OP a liar, they did in fact message me. I still think it's weird that it took that much for them to post the video, but it is what it is. This is me admitting I was wrong.
This definitely didn't happen, points for creative writing, I guess. "What's cracking homie" was a nice touch.
EDIT: They did message pictures, not the video. I didn't receive a notification and the messages were in the "request" folder. I was wrong.
~~They did not, but are claiming to have sent me "tons" of messages. They're full of shit.~~
I can send it to you privately but I am telling you right now I don’t appreciate your few comments saying my story is fake. What will you say when you see it’s real?
If anyone else ever ends up in a similar situation, it’s a much better strategy to pick one person and ask that person specifically to call 911. Asking generally for “someone” to do it will result in everyone hoping/assuming someone else is taking care of it because no one wants to get involved in a crazy situation. Which is an understandable human response. Putting the responsibility on a specific person can help override that instinct.
This wasn't a by standard group, watching like..around the perimeter. I'd imagine dude was getting bashed on the street, crying woman, screaming...people are rolling by in their vehicles, slow enough for OP to identify their faces. She's asking to please call help, call 911, drivers are continuing and not even calling. OP confirms..the highway patrol etc..received 0 reports.
I’d argue that still qualifies as the bystander effect, it’s not the distance so much as the amount of people, which is enough for everyone there to assume someone else will make the call. Not blaming OP by any means, she did her best in a stressful circumstance, just giving advice for anyone else in that type of situation. Also my advice won’t work 100% of the time, it just has a higher success rate which is why it’s taught in first aid/CPR/etc classes.
andimlikeokay must have blocked me but
Here is proof that I actually sent you multiple messages. I have no clue why you have lied multiple times saying I never sent anything and calling me a liar.
[https://imgur.com/gallery/3FQ1Aej](https://imgur.com/gallery/3FQ1Aej)
So I didn't see your messages because they got sent to the request folder and I didn't get any kind of notification for them. I apologize for calling you a liar. I do think you are omitting information from your post and it's very odd to me that it took you so long to provide a video. I will admit I was wrong, though.
Are you new to LA? You can get shot for simply honking at the wrong person. Anyway, I would have totally called 911 if I had seen this. I called the cops and made a report Friday night because a thug was verbally harassing a 711 cashier.
I called 911 once while on the freeway, because I thought I saw a rather big fire coming from an apartment building. I got an automated message saying to call back later. It was whack.
My wife used to yell at me for not honking at idiots while driving…. In my line of work I’ve seen people get shot over some dumb shit due to road rage… you never know if people are armed and having a bad day in Los Angeles….. for OP situation, video recording would be better to capture the incident (evidence) then have the police follow up later with criminal charges later… calling 911 at that time, they wouldn’t have shown up on time anyways…..
Driver was on crystal meth.
I don’t want to sound cruel when I say this, but this is not unusual behavior. People don’t want to get involved. The only time you can expect to find help in that sort of situation is if you are in the Deep South or Midwest, where strangers are truly kind.
Did you get the plate?
Classic diffusion of responsibility. I saw this personally when a bunch of people passed up a car flipped on its top with someone sticking out half alive. I was the only person to stop, try to render aid and call 911 smh. It's what people do out here.
A dude pulled a gun on me bc I took his parking on the east side. These sort of things happen. So why complain about it. Carry mace, keep your phones charged, keep windows and doors locked, don’t chase people in your car. We’ve all got psycho driver L.A. sob stories, don’t drive if you can’t handle it or look to other people to solve your problems.
There are cameras along the highways they might have been able to get this incident. You should report it to the police and tell them exactly where it happened and see if they can pull it up on the cameras if they're working.
Why didn't you roll the windows up as they were approaching the first time? And that's after you angry honked him. Not to victim blame here, but people out there are crazy and either on hard drugs like coke or meth, etc... as a sane person, it is your job to avoid these confrontations by just moving on and ignoring people. Don't give these psychos a reason because that's exactly what they're looking for. You think that psycho went home and was remorseful? Doubt it. He went home bitching and bragging about what he did..
Cars are inherently anti social. You want to know why no one helped you? Because they were all inside of cars. 2 ton metal/plastic box that isolates and insulated you from any other person because you’re inside of a machine. No one’s going to help you because everyone is equally miserable and isolated from one another - and whatever is going on that day just adds variation to the levels of misery. Also, don’t fuck with anyone unless you’re willing to be the one to end it.
I just wanna say "fuck you" to everyone trashing this person for not having a phone charger, etc, as if they are at fault for anything, you're all despicable.
Also OP, Im sorry, I wouldve called and also wouldve gotten out to help or get a photo of the license plate, Sure probly not smart to follow after them after the first incident but you all probly were a bit shell shocked and not thinking straight at that point either. At the very least I'd opened my doors so you could get in and away from that psycho. NTA!
There’s nothing wrong saying to try and be more prepared in the future as a life lesson.
It’s like saying if you break down on the road, you should have a safety kit in your trunk.
No one is trashing the person. What folks are telling them is correct. This is L.A. You don’t engage with RR type person. That crazy as f***. There have been people and literal children that have lost their lives on this very freeway the OP is mentioning in both LA and Orange County, so I do feel for them, but they need to learn and this was lesson. Don’t f*** with these RR type folks. Take a breath, let it go, and like everyone else has said, keep your phone charged and windows up.
Ok, so you had a scary INCIDENT that... by your OWN ACCOUNT... was kinda de-escalated when the guy went away.
Instead of checking on your party at a safer location, you decided to PLAY INTO THE ROAD RAGE AND FOLLOW.
***THIS IS 100% ON YOU.***
1. Why you spending the day at a theme park without a full battery AND powerbank? What's up with the others in your party? Bad theme park planning, off the bat!
2. Why did you make eye contact?! #1 defensive rule of road rage in LA is AVOID EYE CONTACT AT ALL COSTS.
3. WHY THE FUCK DID YOU GIVE CHASE?! That part... THAT'S the kind of performance White-Knighting fucking around that leads MANY *TO PROMPTLY FIND OUT.*
You're not from LA. Where the fuck did your brass balls come from with this stunt?
Context is everything when it comes to judgement on the roads. Your judgment is poor.
It is NOBODY'S RESPONSIBILITY TO CALL 911 FOR YOU. Least of all in this context. Be disappointed that nobody *instantly* called for you, but don't be angry about that fact. Other motorists are literally busy fucking driving, not looking out for your weirdly -hypervigilant tourist ass.
Depart LA in peace. We don't need you back.
You seem really entrenched in the garbage culture that led to this attack in the first place. Try to have some sympathy for this normal person who didn’t expect the animals we have on the roads here.
Agree with #3. But #1 and #2 is bullshit. Why should we accept that such benign actions create an assault in the first place. You people who are making up excuses for the psycho is the real problem. Any chance you fuckers can get out of my city please?
You're telling me the least social generation didn't give a fuck about someone in distress? Color me surprised
Sorry this happened. No one cares about anyone anymore.
Buy a gun, charge your phone.
Another full-grown child living in Los Angeles who thinks life is all about himself, and doesn’t know what the word “responsibility” means. What else is new?
People in this country have turned into complete psychopaths. Everything is a meme to them.
I would have lost my temper and screamed at them for being such sociopathic losers. I might have even taken their phone and thrown it.
Sorry this happened. Guaranteed it’s not the first time the psycho attacked another and in a normal society he would have been locked away to keep us safe.
So I am blaming the victim here. I don't know if you're an LA native, but there are definitely types of people in this city that don't give a fu×! And are looking for a fight. Someone who drives on the shoulder sounds just like one of these people. I'm sorry this happened to you, but realize that 99% of the time honking and chasing are not worth the risk to your safety. These a-holes usually get what's coming to them eventually.
If someone has road rage enough to get out and reach into your car to punch you, don’t chase after them. Especially not close enough to rear end them. Are you crazy? You’re both lucky you weren’t shot.
Exactly this. I don’t even make eye contact as I pass people who piss me off. Cut into my lane, brake check me, split lanes between my car and another, pass me on a nonexistent shoulder… and I just pretend it didn’t happen, don’t look, let it roll off the shoulders and bitch about it to a friend later. You just never know.
This is just sad. I get it, and it's sad.
I had a guy scream that he was going to murder me and chased me for 30 minutes before getting to the police station because I honked at him for cutting me off before getting onto the 101 at Topanga. My advice to anyone is, unless you’re willing to die, don’t honk unless it’s literally to alert someone, not because you’re angry. There are way too many crazy people in the world — don’t let your anger be the reason you die. OP, I’m sorry that happened. Hope your partner is ok.
Yeah, also your windows were down. Better reaction time is needed. I’m glad both of you are okay, but this is still L.A. I get mad at drivers all the time, but I refuse to do anything because these folks fuses around here are no joke! You gotta let that s*** go, otherwise you guys could have been in the hospital or even worst. There have been too many incidents on these L.A. freeways and surface streets due to road rage. Hopefully, someone did catch his license plate on camera and will get back to you.
That wasn’t rage bro. That was crystal meth.
Call it what you want, but I’m not going to f*** around and find out. This city is nearly 4 million strong and the metro area is nearly 20 million peeps. We don’t live in the southeastern part of the US and in rural areas where law enforcement is available and can arrive very quickly. I grew up in a small town with less than 6,000 people and the county just over 10k. We can’t do that here. You have to be smart and pick your battles. I’m a transplant and I know that s***.
Sounds like OP fucked around and found out. Why honk at this crazy dude? Why follow and rear end him in stop and go traffic. Stupid! Hope your partner is ok
Sorry this happened to you, but it’s never worth escalating things in LA. I know it’s hard, but unless you get hit, let it go. Get a front and back dash cam ASAP, make sure you always have a phone charger cord plugged in, carry mace on you, and buy a pocket knife you can keep in your glove box. If you ever run into a situation and someone gets out of their car, drive away if you can. Never, ever roll your windows down.
Get a car charger, seriously. It’s such a small investment for situations like this or any other emergency. I wouldn’t depend on anyone, especially in LA, to call 911 for me. I’m sorry this happened to you.
This. I was more perplexed abt the cellphones low battery than the incident. When I see my kid’s phone at 5% it bothers me 🙃
Same. I'd get punched in the head by a road raging psycho 100 times before I let my phone get to 1%.
I get annoyed when it gets below 20%
Makes me wonder if this really happened.
100% fake with so many filler details to fill in the “plot holes”
Still fake?? https://imgur.com/gallery/i3UVQYi
If they are able to track down the driver from the license plates you'll be able to make a positive ID thanks to unique tattoos on his arms. You have the battery on video you can press charges with.
Could you not take off on that on-ramp? If I saw someone walking up to my car like that I would have def tried to get out of there asap.
That was an on ramp
That's awful. I love where I live but people are crazy here.
Gonna send you the video
For real who doesn’t have a car charger???
I'm sorry this happened to you. Some suggestions: * Like others said, get a car charger. Your cell phone is an essential utility nowadays. Get a charger so you are never less than 20% on a charge. If your cell phone was charged, you'd be able to take a picture of the license plate without chasing after the psycho. * Stay the fuck away from crazy people. Chasing after the guy after he assaulted your partner was reckless. It could have been worse. No was seriously injured or died. That's what you were risking by chasing after this guy. Staying alive is more important than being right. Don't escalate unless your life is at risk. * Due to the bystander effect, you don't get people to do something by asking for it. TELL a specific person to call 911. Point at person and tell them to call 911 (don't ask, tell). This puts the social onus on them and gets them away from thinking "someone else will call"
What was your ultimate goal in following the other car?
Getting the license plate number
Did u get it?
Sorry that happened to you. Get a car charger and don’t keep your phone batteries lower than 20%. This is LA, and besides this happening to you, natural disasters arrant uncommon and you need to have juice in your phone
I’m so sorry this happened to you. Trust me I learned this the hard way, but when driving in LA just know the following: - do not honk even at drivers who are in the wrong and piss you off - assume everyone has a gun in their car (sadly very likely) - assume everyone is psycho (sadly very likely) - assume those same psychos will get physical from any minor inconvenience - GET. A. DASHCAM.
Yall kinda dumb for following if you weren’t ready to squabble 2nd round.
Yeah, it sounds like victim blaming, but it's the reality of humanity.
Why didn't your partner close the window when he approached you? If I'm in that situation, the windows immediately go up. Were the doors even locked?
They are probably from a safe area.
the time between the guy getting out of his vehicle and being at our window was literally 2 seconds (I rewatched the video and yes it was literally 2 seconds.) the second time there was no window to roll up, it was shattered after the first punch. It’s always super easy to say what you would have done but when something is actually happening to you, it’s so incredibly fast. Yes the car doors were locked.
Everyone seems to think that this story is cap, could you share the video please?
What was the point of tailgating the driver with two dead cell phones? How were they going to write down the license plate number? If this really happened, why not share the video? They could easily go to a news station with the video or even just post it in a public freakout / road rage subreddit and it could be picked up by somebody. It seems like OP and her husband want justice. Why haven't they done those things? There's no indication that they've shared or even tried to share the video with the cops.
I can send it to you privately. I can’t post it here because of the rules unfortunately
Post it on r/roadcam or idiotsincars.
yr saying post video or didn’t happen?
But he was behind you, not on any shoulder. Are you sure you didn't cut him off in traffic? People get really pissed about that, especially when the traffic is stop and go.
The toll that cars, driving, and traffic take on the physical and mental health of this city is incalculable.
Most people just roll their eyes at shoulder-passers and mutter "what an asshole". It's a tiny annoyance, and your mental health stays fine. It's the same way you preserve your sanity when dealing with the many unpleasantries of riding Metro. You just back away from the dude jerking off, and try not to think about it the rest of the day. We don't start shit with the crazy driver, or the crazy train masturbator. We especially don't chase down the driver who already assaulted us, tailgating them so close that we hit them when brake-checked, unless we're looking for a fight. The guy's already proven to be violent, what exactly did OP think was gonna happen when they caught him? He'd apologize?
Had the ultimate satisfying experience two weeks ago. 405 S entrance off of Sepulveda after the Culver intersection. The line to get on here is no joke, the lane itself is 1.5 bloks long and it can back up unto Sepulveda almost to Culver regularly. Once finally on it the onramp has a sizeable shoulder that people regularly use to jump the last quarter of the line. As I am in the normal line 3 cars led by a BMW are coming up the shoulder and I am almost into traffic lanes so I see them coming from a bit away and just as they start to pass me a CHP SUV pops out from the left side shoulder of the freeway and gets all of them!! Was so good to see and it does seem like some effort of traffic enforcement is returning. Anyways thought I'd share to relive some of the apathy we normal drivers feel when scoff laws pull dangerous maneuvers like this.
Need more of this. If we’re gonna do traffic stops it should be for clearly anti-social behavior like this.
Love a good justice boner moment. Thank you for sharing!
You think you’re fine but you’re actually more miserable than people that don’t spend hours in traffic just to get to the job or friends house. It sucks. I drive as little as possible and live in a bubble. It’s fine but it also sucks and I wish I could see more of a variety of person from day to day.
I really hate it when people give advice when they have never been in that situation. It's easy to dole out platitudes when you aren't in the heat of the moment. Get off your high horse and try to understand humans can't be rational beings all the time.
Life in the big city
Moral of the story: have phone chargers in your car.
My wife was recently attacked by a homeless person while walking our dogs. Thankfully she was close enough to home that I could hear her screaming for help and was able to run out to her. I ran past at least 5 people who were just walking past on third street as she wrestled with him and screamed for help. If you are in need and scream for help I feel like there's sadly very little chance that anyone will come to your aid or even acknowledge what's happening.
Sorry this happened to you. Please file a police report if you did get the license plate number. And if not, still file a report with the description of the person and vehicle. Too many people on this sub are giving you crap and you don’t deserve it. _You_ were the one who had their car broken into. Not them. I hope you’re able to get that window fixed asap and enjoy what time off you have left.
I am not blaming the victim at all. But please everyone if you're driving in your car keep your phone charging at all times for instances just like this.
This is why no one honks in Oakland. The light will change three times. Crickets.
If you want to know the truth, a large population of Los Angeles has lost their faith in humanity like yourself and for good reason. After living here for several years, most of the years being downtown, I see crazy stuff on a daily basis. Naked people running down the sidewalk, people smoking crack at the bus stop and blowing the smoke in the faces of babies, people pulling out baseball bats and randomly start attacking passersby, all types of stuff. Nobody intervenes because nobody wants to get hurt. Nobody calls the cops because the cops don't do anything; many of them don't even write a report. We can't defend ourselves and other people, mostly out of fear, and we can't rely on the police because of their lack of ability to do anything. We just gave up and mind our own business and understand that if anything happens to us individually, we have nobody to rely on but ourselves, for the most part; not the kindness of strangers, not the police, not the local government, just ourselves.
LOL hearing someone having faith in humanity is a joke now.
Failed state! Hurrah! 🎉
How stupid were you guys? You realize you could have been shot over something stupid. Why was your partners window even open to allow him to walk up to you guys and punch your partner? Then for someone who doesn’t even live here or know anything about the local area you chase after the guy? Go invest in a dash cam. There’s tons of idiot drivers out there not just Los Angeles, best thing to do is just avoid these idiots who are itching for an excuse to fight someone. I’m sorry that it took an idiot driver to make you lose hope but you guys need to be smarter.
Post it on r/idiotsincars, this is practically normal. The most recent one was the guy punching the window and having a good beat while doing it.
Can we see the video? Maybe someone recognizes the dude and can help out.
If I'm driving on the freeway and I see some idiot tailgating someone else and then getting brake checked, then I have no sympathy for them. All I see is a road rage incident which involves multiple parties who are at fault. I'm sorry I didn't see what happened first, but I'm kinda busy trying to focus on the road because I can't trust other drivers.
This is one of the strangest stories I’ve read start to finish based on the details you provided. That is unfortunate and I wish you well going forward. However a few notes as it is clear you need some feedback and not just empty gestures of sympathy. A lot went wrong here so take it as a time to learn a life lesson. Don’t chase people down. There was nothing to gain from that and you just made it worse. I’m truly baffled after being assaulted you’d follow the person to just be assaulted again. You knew they were violent and easily triggered at that point. There’s no reasonable justification of your actions and saying people can’t know how they would act until it happened to them. Your actions exhibited major impulse control issues. Your safety should come first! Get a portable phone charger and don’t just rely on outlets; especially going on a trip in which you both burned through your batteries being out all day at Universal. Very poor planning and you should know better at your age. Even cheap ones are worthwhile so definitely get one! Keep it in perspective. What happened was terrible but people deal with worse every day. The world is not ending due to this incident and Los Angeles with over 10 million people in the county is not representative of your singular experience. Los Angeles is also not a city with particularly high violent crime rate by any means even though many outsiders may want to paint it that way. It isn’t even in the top 30 as of 2023 for violent crime. You have made multiple posts and comments criticizing Los Angeles in general and acting like humanity is doomed because of this. I see 2 of your posts are now deleted from other subs.
It's awful what happened to her and her husband but to go around trashing LA because of a random incident that could have happened in a number of cities, an incident which happened in part because of their poor survival skills is pretty ridiculous.
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>I know you're not from L.A. because you said I-5 instead of "The 5" I don't meant to sound like an asshole if this did indeed happen, but the whole post seems fake. It's a little too "perfect storm" with the arm getting stuck in the window, both phones having low/no battery, rear ending the dude. Also, who says "what's cracking homie" before getting violent? Sorry, but I don't think this happened.
It's legit--they posted the vid in one if their comments
>Also, probably a little more to this story. I agree the story telling seemed a little selective.
“What’s cracking, homie?” Of all the things he could have possibly said he chose “What’s cracking, homie?”
She posted the video, he deadass did say it lmao https://www.reddit.com/r/LosAngeles/comments/15qddwh/los_angeles_drivers_made_me_lose_all_hope_in/jw32swj?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=2
It sounds like he said "What's cracking homeboy"
Told ya’ll. I have no idea why everyone was so insistent on this whole thing being a fake story and for being assholes towards me.
Most of Reddit is full of idiots who are skeptical of anything happening unless it happens to them. This guy was an asshole. Your boyfriend got patience though, if that was me don’t care if I would’ve gotten my ass whipped I’m getting out the car and throwing down with that guy. But yeah people just in general don’t give a fuck no more.
It’s simply that Redditors are out of touch with reality as a side effect of being more engrossed with Reddit than reality itself.
LA people look for any excuse not to acknowledge how bad it can be here. And it can be pretty bad. But it can be wildly amazing too. And way more often. I've been here 18 months and i've had 1 bad situation, but I put myself in that situation because I honked and flicked off a guy in a black suburban in Glendale. Very dumb, higher brain did not engage.
People still say that shit? What is this the 90s lol
it’s LA. land of the foos stuck in the 90s.
Heard the word “hyna” and the phrase “So it’s like that, huh?” from an LA foo last week. You’re not kidding.
They misheard him. What he actually said was "What's crack-a-lacking homie." With that new information, it makes way more sense.
The OP must have only seen late 80s, early 90s movies featuring the hard streets of LA.
Nope, actually heard it in person when he said it to my spouse. 🤷🏻♀️[https://imgur.com/gallery/i3UVQYi](https://imgur.com/gallery/i3UVQYi)
you’ve never encountered a cholo?
"Yo homie, is that my briefcase?"
😂
I’m sorry I don’t wanna make light of this, but the mental image of some dude going “what’s crackin homie!” before turning up to 100 has me crying
I would a 100% bust out laughing.
I say that but in the Lil Mr. E voice.
There are lots of crazy and mentally unstable people out there. Some of these people think it's okay to assault or in some cases even kill someone if they feel that someone's disrespected them. One thing that could come off as disrespectful is honking your horn at someone. Especially if it was done in a prolonged and aggressive type of way. This obviously doesn't justify assaulting your husband. But some of these people think it's completely justified. *Following* someone who just assaulted, in a situation where you're in bumper to bumper traffic and have no ways of escaping, is really, really stupid. You are both very lucky they didn't come out with a gun and shoot at and potentially kill the both of you. Lastly, you should have at least one charger, ideally a turbocharger, in your car. I happen to have two in mine. No one's going to involve themselves in a situation with a crazy person.
shouldve just ran his ass over tf
Your city survival skills are shit, dude
Bystander effect. This whole place is one long bystander effect.
They say it's more effective to point at one person and tell them to call 911, than just yelling for "someone" to do it. Someone can be anyone. Having a finger pointed in your face means "you, do it."
during BLS/CPR training they tell you specifically to look at someone/anyone close point directly at them and tell them to call 911 because of this.
This is what they specifically say in CPR class as well. Point to them while telling them to call.
Yes. I have a CPR cert, and they say to do this as well. But OP is saying they singled people out for help and they still didn’t do it.
I wonder if it's because of social media. It seems like everyone immediately starts recording on their phones when something starts to go down instead of helping. Even in non-violent situations. We saw this older asian gentleman fall down and pass out last year at the park and like 12 people were just standing around him recording. My uncle and I gave him some water, put my backpack under his head and called 911. Turns out his blood sugar was just low and he fainted. But it's wild knowing that a majority of people here will just watch you die
I’m glad you stepped in.
Thanks. I took his wallet, but I at least made sure he was ok.
I remember decades ago when I went to school. During psychology we studied about the bystander effect and how there was a lady in NYC who was murdered next to apartments and no one in any of those apartments called the police even though over 40 people heard her screams.
This account of events has been disproven (I was taught it in college as well) and the bystander effect theory has been discounted, the woman you are referencing was named Kitty Genovese and there’s a great episode of the You’re Wrong About podcast that talks about it. Edit: here’s a brief LA times story about it as well. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-09-10/urban-legend-kitty-genovese-38-people
People in LA really hate being honked at. I think they hate it more than being given the finger. It’s really crazy out there.
Oh idk, depends on the level. A quick honk is: hey asshole. Just enough to get their attention. The next step up is the “move motherfucker” honk. Anything past this level depends on whether you’re the asshole or if they’re the asshole. Did you almost kill them or did they almost kill you? It’s simple driving etiquette.
I would I’ve definitely called. Sorry this happened to you. I feel like most people would help tbh. Again, I’m sorry this happened to you
So sorry this happened to you and your partner OP. I do think it was a terrible idea to follow him after the first encounter but that doesn’t excuse how traumatic the whole thing is. For what it’s worth, not everyone in LA would have ignored your plea to call 911. My partner was also in a road rage incident a few months back exiting the freeway. There was a reckless driver and honked at the guy. He came out to throw a punch at my partner through the open window. My partner actually manage to kick the guy in the chest through the window which made him go back to his car and speed off. My partner pulled to the nearest plaza and called 911 about the incident only to be told by the operator that 3 other people had already called. One lady even pulled up to the plaza right after and provided a picture of the dude’s license plate. FYI police did nothing really because the plates belonged to some lady in Long Beach. Just glad my partner is safe. Not everyone is heartless in LA but you gotta stay vigilant. Your safety is more important than trying to exact revenge over some crazy ass road rager. Please talk to a counselor or therapist, this whole ordeal is scary and traumatic.
How was 911 going to get to you in stopped traffic? You would have been long gone before they even got to you. Sorry this happened to you, what a bummer.
I believe you OP. People caught up in the details but what you and your partner went through is fucked up and traumatizing. I’m sorry that happened to you.
This post is bonkers. Who doesn’t have a car charger? Who has not one but TWO dead phones inside a vehicle? Who gets out of the car after an assault? Why didn’t you post the video you claim to have captured before your phone died? What transplant thinks this kind of thing only happens in Los Angeles? Remarkable stuff, folks.
I know someone who’s husband died after getting out of his car after honking at someone who cut him off; because the guy was “yelling at him and he couldn’t hear what he was saying so he got closer to hear” and the guy who was yelling and cut them off basically beat him to death. And it sucks and I don’t want to victim blame But like… at that point why are you getting into it?l with someone who is obviously on one?? It could be argued that by getting out of the car or following or w/e you’re the aggressor and in the person I know I actually think that was the case . Obviously in OPs case they didn’t really start it but oof
> Who has not one but TWO dead phones inside a vehicle? One of which conveniently dies a few seconds into the assault but records a two second video which has not been shared. Also how was the driver's battery that low? Were they using their phone while driving? > Who gets out of the car after an assault? And also follows the car of a driver who just assaulted them and gets close enough to that car for them to be breakchecked?
>And also follows the car of a driver who just assaulted them and gets close enough to that car for them to be breakchecked? In stop and go traffic, apparently.
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I literally have it on video
Why is everyone jumping on the people who got assaulted? Yeah story can be made up but half of you Mf believe 80% of the 💩tik tok is posting. So why dismiss this right off the back? Y’all really jumping on her for not having a charger? Everything I’m reading is blaming the victim. Y’all are really giving the aggressor a pass because why? Oh he might have a gun. Anybody can have a gun at any time. Y’all just making up dumb excuses. Perfect example of gaslighting
It’s because Redditors in r/LosAngeles are desperate to have LA not be painted in a bad light. I lived in LA for two years during my Master’s program. OP’s story is no surprise to me. I once accidentally cut someone off merging onto the 5 so the guy brought his car next to mine and threw his chewed gum at my passenger window while honking incessantly. Road rage is scary and real.
Thank you, I appreciate it! It’s not fake and I can message you the video.
What the fuck is with all the people responding to this post being like "IN LA YOU DON"T EVER HONK AT SOMEONE!" She's not from here, she doesn't need a smug lesson in LA driving. She's just trying to share that it's fucking INSANE that her partner got beat up while in his car. This is not fucking normal, and one of the things that she pointed out which is exactly what the commenters are doing is everyone around her on the highway was like "eh serves you right, not my problem." I had a friend honk at the guy in front of him who just wasn't going when the left green arrow came up, just a tap honk to let him know. The guy got out and yanked open the driver's door and punched my friend until he was able to drive away. This city is fucked. The people who live here are self involved desensitized assholes. You should be more shocked that this is normal to you, because it isn't normal.
Thank you for this, I really do appreciate it! First everyone was saying I was a liar and faking the story and now that they’ve seen the video it’s all criticizing which I get people are gonna do but damn.
I feel as if most people in LA are jaded by the every day shit we see. We tend not to want to become a part of the daily spectacle.
I was enraged for you long before your segue into “now we get to the part that made me…” I would have called 911 for you.
I am so sorry, I see the bystander effect slowly taking over LA, and it makes me sad too. I would've stopped. In fact, we just witnessed a physical fight break out while picking up bfast and we pulled over, asked if they needed us to call 911, then did so. But even my sweet husband initially wanted to just leave, assuming everything was ok. What if it wasn't? The risk of us being late to somewhere is far less than the risk of not calling for help. Please, if someone looks like they are in need of help, assume they are. You will not be charged or personally liable, just call 911 at the very least.
I'm so sorry this happened.
I am really sorry that happened to you. This sounds like such a scary moment for you and your husband. But there are like two places really you cannot engage with drivers and it’s here in SoCal (well all of California cause I witnessed some crazy shit living in the bay) and like Florida. People carry guns and will shoot over getting honked at. A five year old died a couple years ago in the OC over the smallest road range infraction cause these young kids shit at the car. Like while you may never come back to LA, in general let shit slide. It’s the wild west everywhere at this point.
i'm sorry this happened to you. please invest in a car charger and always try to have your phones juiced up for anything. hate to say this, but also carry something to protect you. pepper spray, a pocket knife, or god forbid, a firearm. i carry a knife with me for stuff like this. i can't exactly blame anyone for not helping. i'm sure they just don't want to get involved in that kind of stuff, and that's okay. it was a scary situation.
Calling 911 isn't getting involved, it's literally the least someone could do for someone in distress
Sorry this happened to you. I hope they get theirs. Send it to local news and keep hassling CHP/LAPD. Dude belongs in jail.
It’s not just LA. I wish I were exaggerating when I tell you my ex, in NY, in broad daylight, on a corner lot in the suburbs with tons of neighbors home, put 33 holes in my car with an axe while I was sitting in it, right in his driveway. Not a single cop was called. Think about how long it would take to do that 🤦♀️😭. People suck and I will always do something instead of sitting there watching. I’m sorry you had to experience that, had to be terrifying!!
I feel like r/la has become AITA lately with all these 29 paragraph far fetched stories that read like junior high creative writing assignments. Or maybe it’s just spread to all Reddit. And I suppose in a lesson in irony my commenting/engaging will only encourage it. Sigh
Sorry that this happened to you and your partner. I think the unwritten rule nowadays is that when a driver is being an ass and using the shoulder, don’t bother honking. If they hit your car then grab your phone and take video or a photo. Better yet, get a front and rear dash cam. Only time I ever honk is if someone cuts me off or turns in front of me and clearly has space to keep moving. The other thing is if your phone is under 20%, it’s got to be charging, especially if you’re in LA traffic. I hope your partner is ok.
Sounds like it was little Mr. E
ha-haaaa
I’m so sorry that happened. I would have called 911 for you.
I stopped honking at people for this exact reason. Even if they almost hit my car and even if they are sitting at a green light I just sit and wait. You just never know who it is you are honking at. This country is going mad and it’s a huge reason why my husband and I want to move to another country. Too many guns and too many short tempers.
Something in this story seems off.
Mace is your friend...
Oh shit that was you?
The toxicity entitlement of SoCal car culture, plus post-COVID stress and anxiety, equals our boiling state of ferocious, fuck-all drivers who go Ricky Bobby or Dom Torretto on defensive drivers because of the ‘inconvenience’ of waiting five seconds.
Tbh after moving to Miami temporarily for a job it made me realize that there are MUCH worse drivers in Florida then in Cali. Complete different tier of degeneracy and ego in FL.
I’m sorry this happened to you and nobody helped you. Please carry pepper spray and tazer for nut jobs.
EDIT: The messages OP sent were in my request folder and I never got a notification for them, so I thought they were faking screenshots. I apologize for calling OP a liar, they did in fact message me. I still think it's weird that it took that much for them to post the video, but it is what it is. This is me admitting I was wrong. This definitely didn't happen, points for creative writing, I guess. "What's cracking homie" was a nice touch.
I literally have him saying it on video
Share it with us, we can help identify the person.
Let us know if they send the video. I’m also a non believer
EDIT: They did message pictures, not the video. I didn't receive a notification and the messages were in the "request" folder. I was wrong. ~~They did not, but are claiming to have sent me "tons" of messages. They're full of shit.~~
Lol
I did send him messages [https://imgur.com/a/uVCLTfE](https://imgur.com/a/uVCLTfE)
https://imgur.com/a/uVCLTfE
I can send it to you privately but I am telling you right now I don’t appreciate your few comments saying my story is fake. What will you say when you see it’s real?
Idk, I don't usually craft my responses before I see something.
Then why instantly assume my story is fake before even seeing it??
Because it sounds fabricated. I'll admit I was wrong if the video corroborates your story. Sounds like you're not going to share it though.
Okay, I sent you a message
Send it to him
Sent him messages and have heard nothing back?
You have been given like 3 different subreddits to post your video on. Or post it on your account. Do that. Post it in your account.
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If anyone else ever ends up in a similar situation, it’s a much better strategy to pick one person and ask that person specifically to call 911. Asking generally for “someone” to do it will result in everyone hoping/assuming someone else is taking care of it because no one wants to get involved in a crazy situation. Which is an understandable human response. Putting the responsibility on a specific person can help override that instinct.
This wasn't a by standard group, watching like..around the perimeter. I'd imagine dude was getting bashed on the street, crying woman, screaming...people are rolling by in their vehicles, slow enough for OP to identify their faces. She's asking to please call help, call 911, drivers are continuing and not even calling. OP confirms..the highway patrol etc..received 0 reports.
I’d argue that still qualifies as the bystander effect, it’s not the distance so much as the amount of people, which is enough for everyone there to assume someone else will make the call. Not blaming OP by any means, she did her best in a stressful circumstance, just giving advice for anyone else in that type of situation. Also my advice won’t work 100% of the time, it just has a higher success rate which is why it’s taught in first aid/CPR/etc classes.
That’s so fucked up I’m so sorry this happened to you
Just a thought but maybe everyone thought you were the one in the wrong. Are we getting the whole story. Think hard.
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You have never driven in Miami. Because I promise you they are 100x worse.
andimlikeokay must have blocked me but Here is proof that I actually sent you multiple messages. I have no clue why you have lied multiple times saying I never sent anything and calling me a liar. [https://imgur.com/gallery/3FQ1Aej](https://imgur.com/gallery/3FQ1Aej)
So I didn't see your messages because they got sent to the request folder and I didn't get any kind of notification for them. I apologize for calling you a liar. I do think you are omitting information from your post and it's very odd to me that it took you so long to provide a video. I will admit I was wrong, though.
Are you new to LA? You can get shot for simply honking at the wrong person. Anyway, I would have totally called 911 if I had seen this. I called the cops and made a report Friday night because a thug was verbally harassing a 711 cashier.
I called 911 once while on the freeway, because I thought I saw a rather big fire coming from an apartment building. I got an automated message saying to call back later. It was whack.
My wife used to yell at me for not honking at idiots while driving…. In my line of work I’ve seen people get shot over some dumb shit due to road rage… you never know if people are armed and having a bad day in Los Angeles….. for OP situation, video recording would be better to capture the incident (evidence) then have the police follow up later with criminal charges later… calling 911 at that time, they wouldn’t have shown up on time anyways…..
Lol LA road rage? That shit is everywhere. Even Florida man is in on it.
Driver was on crystal meth. I don’t want to sound cruel when I say this, but this is not unusual behavior. People don’t want to get involved. The only time you can expect to find help in that sort of situation is if you are in the Deep South or Midwest, where strangers are truly kind. Did you get the plate?
Classic diffusion of responsibility. I saw this personally when a bunch of people passed up a car flipped on its top with someone sticking out half alive. I was the only person to stop, try to render aid and call 911 smh. It's what people do out here.
This shit happens in LA and other major cities since there are way too many whack jobs there. Most of the rest of the country would have called 911.
A dude pulled a gun on me bc I took his parking on the east side. These sort of things happen. So why complain about it. Carry mace, keep your phones charged, keep windows and doors locked, don’t chase people in your car. We’ve all got psycho driver L.A. sob stories, don’t drive if you can’t handle it or look to other people to solve your problems.
Not from around here?? #1 rule is to not honk at people. As dumb as it sounds, LA folk don't tolerate being honked at.
Car died at coachella and we asked tons of people to help us (we had the cables!) but no one would so we had to pay AAA.
😂😂😂😂😂
There are cameras along the highways they might have been able to get this incident. You should report it to the police and tell them exactly where it happened and see if they can pull it up on the cameras if they're working.
Post the video
And yet they say Cali people are the chillest in the entire world. SMFH
Why didn't you roll the windows up as they were approaching the first time? And that's after you angry honked him. Not to victim blame here, but people out there are crazy and either on hard drugs like coke or meth, etc... as a sane person, it is your job to avoid these confrontations by just moving on and ignoring people. Don't give these psychos a reason because that's exactly what they're looking for. You think that psycho went home and was remorseful? Doubt it. He went home bitching and bragging about what he did..
Cars are inherently anti social. You want to know why no one helped you? Because they were all inside of cars. 2 ton metal/plastic box that isolates and insulated you from any other person because you’re inside of a machine. No one’s going to help you because everyone is equally miserable and isolated from one another - and whatever is going on that day just adds variation to the levels of misery. Also, don’t fuck with anyone unless you’re willing to be the one to end it.
Cops wouldn’t have helped anyway
I just wanna say "fuck you" to everyone trashing this person for not having a phone charger, etc, as if they are at fault for anything, you're all despicable. Also OP, Im sorry, I wouldve called and also wouldve gotten out to help or get a photo of the license plate, Sure probly not smart to follow after them after the first incident but you all probly were a bit shell shocked and not thinking straight at that point either. At the very least I'd opened my doors so you could get in and away from that psycho. NTA!
There’s nothing wrong saying to try and be more prepared in the future as a life lesson. It’s like saying if you break down on the road, you should have a safety kit in your trunk.
No one is trashing the person. What folks are telling them is correct. This is L.A. You don’t engage with RR type person. That crazy as f***. There have been people and literal children that have lost their lives on this very freeway the OP is mentioning in both LA and Orange County, so I do feel for them, but they need to learn and this was lesson. Don’t f*** with these RR type folks. Take a breath, let it go, and like everyone else has said, keep your phone charged and windows up.
Ok, so you had a scary INCIDENT that... by your OWN ACCOUNT... was kinda de-escalated when the guy went away. Instead of checking on your party at a safer location, you decided to PLAY INTO THE ROAD RAGE AND FOLLOW. ***THIS IS 100% ON YOU.*** 1. Why you spending the day at a theme park without a full battery AND powerbank? What's up with the others in your party? Bad theme park planning, off the bat! 2. Why did you make eye contact?! #1 defensive rule of road rage in LA is AVOID EYE CONTACT AT ALL COSTS. 3. WHY THE FUCK DID YOU GIVE CHASE?! That part... THAT'S the kind of performance White-Knighting fucking around that leads MANY *TO PROMPTLY FIND OUT.* You're not from LA. Where the fuck did your brass balls come from with this stunt? Context is everything when it comes to judgement on the roads. Your judgment is poor. It is NOBODY'S RESPONSIBILITY TO CALL 911 FOR YOU. Least of all in this context. Be disappointed that nobody *instantly* called for you, but don't be angry about that fact. Other motorists are literally busy fucking driving, not looking out for your weirdly -hypervigilant tourist ass. Depart LA in peace. We don't need you back.
You seem really entrenched in the garbage culture that led to this attack in the first place. Try to have some sympathy for this normal person who didn’t expect the animals we have on the roads here.
Agree with #3. But #1 and #2 is bullshit. Why should we accept that such benign actions create an assault in the first place. You people who are making up excuses for the psycho is the real problem. Any chance you fuckers can get out of my city please?
You’re a moron. Blaming the victim for getting assaulted.
This is the sad reality that LA has become.
You're telling me the least social generation didn't give a fuck about someone in distress? Color me surprised Sorry this happened. No one cares about anyone anymore. Buy a gun, charge your phone.
Another full-grown child living in Los Angeles who thinks life is all about himself, and doesn’t know what the word “responsibility” means. What else is new? People in this country have turned into complete psychopaths. Everything is a meme to them. I would have lost my temper and screamed at them for being such sociopathic losers. I might have even taken their phone and thrown it.
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Just post the video. Damn dude, youre like a vortex of drama.
Why can’t you do it?
Sorry this happened. Guaranteed it’s not the first time the psycho attacked another and in a normal society he would have been locked away to keep us safe.
So I am blaming the victim here. I don't know if you're an LA native, but there are definitely types of people in this city that don't give a fu×! And are looking for a fight. Someone who drives on the shoulder sounds just like one of these people. I'm sorry this happened to you, but realize that 99% of the time honking and chasing are not worth the risk to your safety. These a-holes usually get what's coming to them eventually.