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The seven most frustrating offenses California drivers commit every day

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The seven most frustrating offenses California drivers commit every day

Driving through Southern California can feel like entering a different world. There are rules, yes, and you must learn them. The city, county, state and feds pass and enforce laws that govern our conduct on the road.

But within the confines of these rules, drivers take all sorts of liberties: They rush through at the tail end of a green light, prevent their peers from merging and snake through neighborhoods slow enough to read every street sign. The variations are endless and endlessly annoying.

Everywhere you turn, there’s another study ranking California drivers as among the worst. In fact, there’s just about only one thing California drivers all agree on: Everybody else on the roads has lost their minds.

As the holidays approach, we want to do our part to help eliminate the scourge of bad and selfish driving across the state. We asked Essential California readers to send in their complaints about other drivers on the road, and boy did they deliver.

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Hundreds of emails later, we put together some tips for driving etiquette. We hope you’ll use them, and submit more of your own by emailing us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

One surprising response wasn’t a complaint at all, but a compliment to L.A. drivers. “Every time we visit Los Angeles from Connecticut, we notice how well people drive in Los Angeles,” Wyn Lydecker wrote. “People are polite. They follow the rules of the road and it’s amazing to us.”

That’s great, Wyn, but we have no idea what you’re talking about.

We identified seven of the most frustrating things people do while driving, and we’re here, with the California Driver’s Handbook, to correct them. Please take note.

Turn signals were invented to be used

Illustration of a car turning without a signal

(Liam Eisenberg / For The Times)

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Improper signaling or failure to use signals at all was the most common complaint we heard from readers.

“It seems obvious to me that when approaching a turn, you first signal, THEN BRAKE!,” Bill Pucciarelli wrote in. “So many drivers suddenly brake in front of you, for seemingly no reason. Then after we all come to a stop, turn on their signal. Why bother at this time?”

Bill is right. In fact, you are supposed to signal at least 100 feet before you turn; before every lane change; at least five seconds before you change lanes on a freeway; before pulling next to the curb or away from the curb; even when you do not see other vehicles around you; and when you are almost through the intersection if you plan to turn shortly after crossing the intersection.

Drivers, be more like Bill!

Please put your phone down. The light turned green and we’re all waiting behind you

illustration of a driver looking at their phone while driving as people in front and behind react

(Liam Eisenberg / For The Times)

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The second most complained about thing drivers are doing on the road? Looking at their phones.

“One of the most frustrating things is when there is only one car in front of me at a red light, then when the light turns green, the driver waits for several seconds to go, more than likely because they are looking at their cellphone, not hands-free,” Kim Sturmer wrote. “This happens at least once a day.”

Maybe these drivers were looking at their navigation app for directions. Or they were answering some non-crucial Instagram DM. Both are illegal in California. A state appeals court ruled in June that the state law prohibiting drivers from texting or talking on a cellphone while driving also makes it illegal to hold a phone to look at a map on the screen.

Whatever’s going on on your phone, it’s not worth the $158 fine for distracted driving (or worse).

Think before you merge

illustration of a car merging into another lane while another driver reacts angrily

(Liam Eisenberg / For The Times)

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Our readers also really don’t like when drivers improperly merge into lanes.

  • “I strongly dislike drivers that commonly hit their brakes when attempting to merge into traffic rather than accelerating into an open spot,” Scott E. wrote. “After all, God gave them an accelerator pedal as well as a brake pedal.”
  • “The things that frustrate me the MOST are: rude and inconsiderate drivers…drivers who drive on the shoulder of a freeway and create their own lane so they can CUT in front of you,” Lillian Bailey wrote. “Drivers who suddenly swerve across freeway lanes because they’re about to miss their exit, another pet peeve!”
  • “Nothing annoys me more than drivers that cut in front of me on the freeway and then go slower than the speed limit,” Lorraine Lawrence wrote.

Improper merging is also one of the most common reasons California Highway Patrol officers stop drivers on the road. “We stop people mostly for speed or unsafe lane changes,” CHP Officer Katherine Hendry said. “In fact, probably both those reasons are also the No. 1 and No. 2 reasons why people get in accidents, which is why we focus on that so heavily.”

In case you need a refresher, don’t forget the SMOG method of changing lanes:

  • S is for Signal: Tell the world of your plans, please!
  • M is for Mirror: Check your mirrors to check traffic behind and besides you
  • O is for Over the shoulder: Turn your beautiful head and use your eyes to check your blind spots as best as possible. Don’t drift while doing this. Make it a quick move.
  • G is for Go. Merge. Do not stop or break or freak out. Move into your new lane.

(Scott, I hope you feel vindicated with this one!)

Say it with me: Red means stop (even if you are turning right)

Illustration of a green car speeding through a red light while a red car watches

(Liam Eisenberg / For The Times)

This should be common sense, but at red lights and stop signs, you’re supposed to stop. One of them even says STOP in large capitalized letters!

Disregarding both while on the road is frustrating for our readers.

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  • “Here in Fresno, there are many drivers for whom stopping at a red light is an option, not a requirement,” Reilly Rix wrote in. “I see cars blow through red lights at least once a week nowadays.” Us too, Reilly.
  • “There is a new trend of speeding up when a signal turns yellow,” Cynthia Fletcher wrote to us. “Worse yet, I see people simply not stopping at stop signs.”

In case you don’t know the rules, let me break it down for you:

  • When at a stop sign, drivers are supposed to make a full stop before entering the crosswalk or at the limit line.
  • If there is no limit line or crosswalk, stop before entering the intersection and check traffic in all directions before proceeding.

A red traffic signal also means stop. Even if you can legally turn right on red, which is not always the case, you are still expected to stop and look before making your turn, and to yield for pedestrians.

All this tailgating will be the end of us

Illustration of a purple car trailing closely behind an orange car

(Liam Eisenberg / For The Times)

Angelenos treat tailgating like an Olympic sport. You’d think you could win gold by getting as close as possible to the car in front of you.

Well, play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Tailgating is dangerous and crazy. What’s stopping the driver in front of you from making a mistake or doing something erratic? Keep your distance, so you have time to react.

Reader William J. McHale cited tailgaters as one of the driver types that annoys him the most.

I agree. Why are you following so closely in the middle lane? Get in the fast lane if you want to go faster!

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In case you hate tailgaters too, or are a tailgater yourself, here’s what to do:

  • If a vehicle merges in front of you too closely, take your foot off the accelerator. This creates space between you and the vehicle ahead.
  • If a tailgater is behind you, maintain your course and speed.
  • Then, when safe to do so, merge right to change into another lane and allow the tailgater to pass.

This brings us to the next one:

If you insist on driving slow, get out of the left lane

illustration of a car driving too slow, behind a turtle on the highway

(Liam Eisenberg / For The Times)

No matter how much I’ve poked fun at my grandfather for driving like a snail my entire life, he continues to drive slowly on streets and freeways. He’s even gotten a ticket for driving too slow. I didn’t know that was possible, but it is in many states, including California.

Of course, you must drive slower through heavy traffic or bad weather.

But do not block the normal and reasonable flow of traffic by driving too slowly.

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And please, if you’re going to drive slow, get out of the left lane. Let people use it for its purpose: Passing.

On that note: If you’re anywhere but the far right lane and a faster driver comes up on your tail, safely merge right so they can pass you. You are not being noble or righteous by slowing other people down, you’re creating danger.

Don’t blind us with your high-beams

illustration of a car with high beams on behind an annoyed driver of another car

(Liam Eisenberg / For The Times)

Most readers wrote a list of complaints or several paragraphs.

Michael West kept it short by simply writing, “High beams.” The rules for using high beams on the road are also pretty short.

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Only use high-beam headlights when driving at night on open country roads or dark city streets (dim to avoid blinding the driver of an oncoming vehicle) and in areas where they are legally allowed.

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Jewelry Among the Exhibits at a Daniel Brush Retrospective

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Jewelry Among the Exhibits at a Daniel Brush Retrospective

Nearly four years after his death, a retrospective of the multidisciplinary work by the self-taught American artist Daniel Brush — encompassing sculpture, paintings and jewelry in materials as diverse as steel, Bakelite and gold — is scheduled to open June 8 at the Paris location of L’Ecole, School of Jewelry Arts.

“Daniel Brush: The Art of Line and Light” will be the fifth time that L’Ecole has exhibited the artist’s work. But its president, Lise Macdonald, said she believed Mr. Brush’s legacy warranted repeated consideration: “He is a very niche artist, but he is excellent — really one of the greatest artists of the 20th and 21st century.”

The diversity of his creations has been part of his appeal, she said. “We don’t really consider him as purely a jeweler but more a protean artist where jewelry was part of his approach.”

L’Ecole Paris, which operates in an 18th-century mansion in the Ninth Arrondissement and is supported by Van Cleef & Arpels, has prepared programming to complement the show, from conversations with experts on Mr. Brush’s work (to be held on site and streamed online) to jewelry-making workshops for children. Details of the free exhibition and the events are on the school’s website; the show is scheduled to end Oct. 4.

The exhibition is to include more than 75 pieces, which span much of Mr. Brush’s five-decade career. They have been selected by Olivia Brush, his wife and collaborator, and by Vivienne Becker, a jewelry historian and author who said she first met the couple more than 30 years ago. Some exhibits, they said, have never been seen by the public before.

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Ms. Becker, who wrote the 2019 monograph “Daniel Brush: Jewels Sculpture,” said the artist had possessed vast knowledge of the history of jewelry and shared her belief that jewels “answer a very important, very basic human impulse to adorn — that it’s essential to customs, beliefs, and ceremonies around the world.” She also has written a book documenting the L’Ecole exhibition — and with the same title — that examines the artist’s preoccupation with the themes of light and line.

“He loved the idea of making a real, intransigent, opaque metal into something that was almost translucent, or transparent,” said Ms. Becker, citing as an example a trio of bangles made in 2009 to 2010 that are called the “Rings of Infinity.” The lines that he engraved on the aluminum pieces functioned, she explained, to “elevate the jewel from a trinket to a great, great work of art.”

A series of engraved steel panels titled “Thinking About Monet” used the interplay of line and light to achieve a different effect, she said. Mr. Brush made individual strokes in tight formation on the panels, producing gently rippling surfaces whose color changes with shifting light conditions.

The effect “is really hard to understand. I couldn’t,” Ms. Becker said. “So many people ask, ‘Are they tinted? Are they colored?’ It’s absolutely nothing. It’s just the breaking of the light.”

Though Mr. Brush was a widely acknowledged master of skills such as granulation, the application of tiny gold balls to a metal surface, both Ms. Brush and Ms. Becker said the exhibition’s goal was not to highlight his virtuosity — nor, Ms. Becker said, was that ever a concern of Mr. Brush’s. “He didn’t want to talk about the technique at all,” she said. “Technique has to just be a means to an end. He just wanted people to be amazed, to have a sense of wonder again.”

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The works selected for the L’Ecole exhibition reflect his range, which veered from diamond-set Bakelite brooches inspired by animal crackers to a steel and gold orb meant to be an object of contemplation. “He didn’t want to have boundaries,” Ms. Brush said. “He wanted to do what he wanted to do when he wanted to do it.”

The couple met as students at what is now called Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and her 1967 wedding ring was the first jewel that Mr. Brush made.

All of Mr. Brush’s works were one-of-a-kind creations, completed from start to finish by him in the New York City loft that served as a workshop as well as a family home. Photographs of the space, which contained a library with titles on the eclectic subjects that preoccupied him — Chinese history, Byzantine art, Impressionist painting — and the antique machinery that inspired him and that he used to make his tools, are featured in the exhibition and reproduced in Ms. Becker’s book.

Ms. Brush is a fiber artist in her own right, but Mr. Brush also frequently credited her as an equal participant on pieces bearing his name. “I did not physically make the work,” she explained, “but the work would not have evolved or happened the way it did if it were not for the way we lived our lives,” she said.

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Thanks to ‘Mormon Wives,’ Dirty Soda Is a National Obsession

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Thanks to ‘Mormon Wives,’ Dirty Soda Is a National Obsession

The first time Pop’s Social, a catering company in South Orange, N.J., that specializes in dirty soda, served an alcoholic drink at an event, something strange happened.

At the event in December, its nonalcoholic offering, a spiced pear-cider seltzer with vanilla and peach syrups, cream, lemon and cold foam, was a hit. The Prosecco-spiked version? Not so much.

“People were more interested in the mocktail than the cocktail,” Ali Greenberg, an owner of the business, said in an interview.

Dirty soda — a customizable blend of soda, flavored syrup, creamer and sometimes fruit, served over pebble ice — has been crossing into the mainstream for years, especially after the cast of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” the hit reality show that premiered in 2024, frequented Swig, the Utah chain that started it all.

But its reach has gone far beyond the Mormon corridor, and its rise in popularity has dovetailed with an overall decline in U.S. alcohol consumption. “There’s not a lot of Mormon people in our neighborhood,” said Greenberg. “But there are a lot of people who are sober-curious or not drinking.”

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The reality show, which follows a group of Mormon influencers in Utah, helped popularize dirty soda beyond the Mountain States and inspired a wave of TikTok videos on the subject. Swig rapidly expanded — growing from 33 locations in Utah and Arizona in 2021 to now more than 150 locations in 16 states — along with other Utah chains, and spawned copycats nationwide.

Dirty soda has joined other Mormon cultural exports, like tradwife influencers, a “Real Housewives” franchise in Salt Lake City and Taylor Frankie Paul, the Bachelorette who wasn’t, that have captivated America.

With the recent rollouts of dirty soda at McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A and Dunkin’ — behold the Dunkin’ Dirty Soda: Pepsi, coffee milk and cold foam — and the appearance on grocery shelves of Dirty Mountain Dew and a coconut-lime Coffee Mate creamer for homemade dirty sodas, we may have reached peak dirty.

The idea for dirty soda came out of a desire for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has millions of followers in Utah and surrounding states, to have more options for social drinking, as the church prohibits the consumption of alcohol, hot coffee and hot caffeinated tea.

When Swig introduced dirty soda in 2010, it filled a need, providing a pick-me-up for car-pooling moms and an after-school treat for their kids. It was quickly adopted by many in the community.

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“In other cultures, parents go, they pick up their coffee in the morning, and for me and for a lot of my other friends’ parents, it was, ‘Let’s go pick up our dirty soda,’” Whitney Leavitt, a breakout star of “Mormon Wives,” said in an interview.

Leavitt was surprised when her dirty soda order became a recurring question from reporters in recent years. “They were so excited to hear all of the different syrups and creamers that we add to our drinks to make whatever your go-to dirty soda is,” Leavitt said. (Hers is sparkling water with sugar-free pineapple, sugar-free peach and sugar-free vanilla syrups, raspberry purée, a squeeze of lime, and fresh mint if she’s “feeling really fancy.”)

In April, Leavitt became the chief creative and brand officer at Cool Sips, a beverage chain based in New York that sells dirty sodas.

“Mormon Wives” inspired Kaitlyn Sturm, a 26-year-old mother of three from Jackson, Miss., to post recipes for dirty sodas on her TikTok. The one she makes the most contains Coke or Dr Pepper, homemade cherry syrup, a glug of coconut creamer and a packet of True Lime crystallized lime powder, which she combines in a pasta-sauce jar filled with pebble ice. “It kind of has become like a ritual, where I make one for my husband as well, and we have it most evenings,” Sturm said in an interview.

The trend has also hit fast-food menus. The new “crafted soda” menu at McDonald’s is riddled with dirty soda DNA. The Dirty Dr Pepper, with vanilla flavoring and a cold-foam topper, is the chain’s version of what has shaped up to be the universal dirty soda flavor. Since 2024, Sonic, beloved for its porous, soda-absorbing pebble ice, has offered “dirty” drinks — your choice of soda plus coconut syrup, sweet cream and lime.

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These drinks might feel new, but there are antecedents in the Italian sodas of the ’90s (fizzy water and a pump of Torani syrup); the Shirley Temple (ginger ale or lemon-lime soda with grenadine and maraschino cherries); and the egg cream, a tonic of seltzer, chocolate syrup and milk. And what is a dirty Dr Pepper with cold foam if not a descendant of the root beer float? “It’s just a soda fountain from 125 years ago,” Kara Nielsen, a food and beverage trend forecaster, said in an interview.

Though Leavitt moved to New York City with her family in December, her dirty soda ritual has remained consistent, with one key difference. “In Utah, we don’t get to walk to dirty soda shops,” Leavitt said. “We have to drive there.”

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Chaos Gardening: A Laid-Back Way to Garden

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Chaos Gardening: A Laid-Back Way to Garden

Annuals include flowers like marigolds and nasturtiums. They grow fast but won’t come back the next spring (though they will drop seeds and possibly propagate). Perennials like lavender and sage will return year after year, but they may take longer to grow. Wildflower and pollinator packets often contain both annual and perennial seeds but are frowned upon by some serious gardeners, because the selection can be haphazard and ill-suited to the area.

It’s a good idea to exercise a little situational awareness. How much rain can you expect? How much sunlight? Dig the earth and feel it between your fingers — is it sandy? Loamy? These are things to keep in mind as you prepare for your journey into horticultural chaos.

“You want to prepare your soil, your site, at least a little bit,” said Deryn Davidson, a sustainable landscape expert at Colorado State University Extension in Longmont, Colo. “Try to get rid of weeds. Make sure the soil is ready to receive seeds.”

Davidson, who has written about chaos gardening, strongly advised covering the seeds with a layer of soil, lest they become bird food. As for watering, that depends on where you live, she added. On the whole, though, the formula is straightforward: “Soil, sun and water is what these seeds need,” Davidson said.

Not everyone is a fan of the trend, or at least the way it has been portrayed on social media. “Nature is not chaos — nature is pattern,” said Robin Wall Kimmerer, a botanist and the author of “Braiding Sweetgrass,” which recommends imbuing modern life with Indigenous wisdom.

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“It seems unrealistic,” Kimmerer said of the chaos gardening videos she has watched. The feeling of effortlessness they convey — a common social media effect, almost always the result of deft editing — seems to elide the work that goes into a garden, whether chaotic or not, she suggested.

“I want my garden to be natural and biodiverse,” she said. “That’s a good impulse. I don’t think this technique is going to get you there, but that’s an important impulse.”

Boitnott, the maker of the viral video, offered a simple reason for why chaos gardening has become popular: “It just makes you happy.”

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