Just more evidence that Oakland in particular, and California generally, is becoming a third world state. The Daily Mail reports: "Oakland likened to 'zombie apocalypse movie' thanks to horrifying new trend." And that new trend is "where abandoned cars are left along the Union Pacific Railroad" as shown in the photograph below which was pulled from the article.
Per the article, the dumping of the cars is not exactly a new problem, but it has gotten much worse recently. Meanwhile, progress at removing the vehicles has been slow, mostly because, the article explains, the property on which the cars are dumped belong to different entities: Union Pacific, Caltrans and Alameda County.
Although the news story does not state there is a connection with the uptick in abandoned vehicles, the article goes on to report in the spike in stolen vehicles, with rates nearly doubling in the past two years. The piece continues:
While officials try to figure out their next move, discouraged residents have taken matters into their own hands.
One person who lives at the end of Bernhardt Drive, near the north side of the railroad tracks, put up a chain link fence over the summer to deter people from speeding down their block and driving stolen cars in the community.
In May, another local, Ken Houston, told CBS News: 'It is getting worse day by day.'
'I mean you can talk to some of the neighbors on Edes and Cary. This is just one section,' he said, adding that many people are also intimidated by car thieves and feel 'hostage in their own home.'
'Neighbors are hostage in their own home because they are scared to report it because of retaliation,' Houston explained.
'One person said they told her "if you report me I'm going to burn down your house with your kids".'
In another story reminiscent of Mad Max, but with a gang (or mob) of teenagers on bicycles: "Dystopian moment huge mob of cyclists takes over LA road then attacks car that sped around them." It appears from the photos that the teens took over all 2 or 3 lanes heading one direction without making way from vehicle traffic. I can't tell how many cyclists there are, but I would guess at least 50 and probably more. From the article:
Horrifying footage of a car speeding through a residential Los Angeles neighborhood and almost crashing into a mob of cyclists is circulating on social media.
The video revealed a white Mercedes-Benz zooming through the street while dodging cyclists and even veering into the wrong side of the road.
The vehicle swerved through the cyclists and just narrowly missed them as screams could be heard in the background.
The cyclists yelled at one another to 'move' and 'watch out' for the unhinged vehicle.
The Mercedes-Benz continued to speed around the bikers, narrowly avoiding oncoming traffic.
A separate clip appeared to show the same cyclists attacking the car in a parking garage.
A mob of people stomped on the car and smashed the windows in. Another person in a gray jacket fled the scene as others chased after him.
It's unclear if the person running away was the driver from the first video. The Los Angeles Police Department have yet to confirm the details of the incident.
The article also adds:
Locals in the area told CBS News that it isn't uncommon for large groups of cyclists to ride through the neighborhood.
Rosalina Hernandez, a local business owner, told the outlet that her customers were cheering the cyclists on as they cruised down the road.
'It was pretty joyful. The customers that were outside were cheering them on and people were honking,' Hernandez told CBS.
Her tone changed when commenting on the violence in the parking garage, calling the behavior 'unacceptable' and adding that it gave her 'chills.'
Social media users expressed mixed reactions to the viral videos with some defending the driver's behavior while others sided with the bikers.
'The bikers are the ones illegally driving in the streets obstructing all traffic lanes,' one comment read, while another agreed, 'The driver is a hero, we need more people like him.'
They will undoubtedly graduate to using motorcycles and cars to take over streets and endanger the public.
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