Drag racing on Crown Valley Speedway. A great way to end the year.

9 p.m. and onward. Drag racing on Crown Valley Speedway, northbound and southbound, between Alicia and Del Avion. And this isn't just speeding, this is actual drag racing where two or more cars are battling it out, tearing away from the traffic signals, jockeying for position, sometimes hitting more than 80 mph. City officials and OC sheriff: this has got to stop in 2012. This is ridiculous; you are not doing your job. Shame on you. Ignoring the problems here and acting like everything is so wonderful here does not make problems go away. Drag racing is happening in this city, every week: face the facts.

70 percent with their phone to their ear?

11:30 a.m. While waiting at the light to turn left from La Paz Speedway into Plaza de La Paz, I watch seven cars making the right turn out of the Plaza, heading southbound on La Paz: Five of the seven drivers are on their cell phone with their phone to their head. What? Seventy percent of the drivers turning right in those 45 seconds have their cell phone to their head! Amazing. Not unheard of on the roads here but, nonetheless, telling of the poor drivers in this city.

Jogger has to bump into a black SUV at Pacific Island Drive and Alicia Speedway

4:20 p.m. A black SUV turning right from Pacific Island Drive onto Alicia Speedway, runs the red light and bumps into a jogger in the crosswalk. The jogger has to put his hands onto the SUV to brace himself from getting hit. Fortunately, the jogger was smart enough, and quick enough, not to get hurt. Whether you are a pedestrian or cyclist--or a good driver--dodging the poor drivers is a constant game here.

Illegal exhaust systems are annoying to thousands of us

5:55 p.m. Southbound on Crown Valley Speedway, south of Clubhouse, a black BMW with screaming exhaust system, is speeding away at more than 70 mph. For those residents who live in Laguna Woods and around National Park Drive, and West Nine, the blare of racing cars is almost constant -- and in violation of state and local noise ordinances. Enforcement of noise issues: where are you officers?

Motorcyclist makes a U-turn ... across the landscape median

3 p.m. A motorcyclist northbound on Golden Lantern, just past St. Christopher, can't wait to get to the next intersection, so he hops onto the landscape median and makes a U-turn across the median, then speeds off at more than 75 mph southbound on Golden Lantern Speedway.

Run a red at Niguel and Alicia Speedways. Now I'm in control of something for a change.

2 p.m. A man in a white Porsche SUV runs the red light westbound on Niguel at Alicia Speedway, then honks at a driver who has legally turned right from Niguel. The Porsche swerves out of the right lane, gives the legal driver the finger, and speeds away up Niguel Speedway. Rudeness prevails in this city. The frustration that people feel (as the economy continues to tank) is evident on our roads. When people feel they have little control over their lives (and their mortgage lender is breathing down their neck) it is most common for people to exert their frustration in an environment over which they feel they have control: their cars. Studies show this behavior is not only prevalent in suburbia but is manifesting itself even more strongly. And we see it here everyday.

Speedracers on Crown Valley. Welcome to our city of noisy Speedways.

1:15 p.m. It's been a lovely day of speed-racing roadiots on Crown Valley Speedway, mainly those heading southbound, south of Hillhurst. There's road construction in front of the library so that backs people up for about two minutes. Then the worst of the drivers decide they have to speed away at more than 70 mph to get to  .... what? Just more racing and driving dangerously (and loudly) ... welcome to life in Laguna Niguel. We are one big thoroughfare for all the adjacent cities. C'mon residents and city staff ... it's time to fix things here for the people who live here.

As usual, phone to head, wheels to curb

9:50 a.m. Exiting the Town Center shopping area, southbound toward city hall, a young woman in her silver Toyota Yaris has her hot pink phone to her head and she runs into the curb as she drives up the hill to make a left turn onto Alicia Speedway toward the City Hall. Does anyone realize how often people hit curbs around here because they have their phone to their head? We see it all the time. Heaven help anybody walking or bicycling on these streets.

Run a red light instead of waiting your turn

3 p.m. An older man in a white Mercedes SUV, waiting to make a left turn in the signaled lane from Crown Valley onto Club House Drive, didn't want to wait for his light to turn green, so he turned left against a red light. Fortunately, the three cars behind him in line waited until the light turned green.

The Ultimate Roadiot in an Altima

1:20 p.m. Northbound on Greenfield, a man in a dark brown Altima was the ultimate Roadiot (road-idiot), tailing everyone, and cutting off drivers to make his way to the toll road entrance. Then he ran the red light to make the left turn onto the entrance ramp.

Running a red makes me feel special! (during my midlife crisis)

1 p.m. Northbound on La Paz Speedway at Avila Road, a man in a black Corvette runs the red light as he makes a left turn. The three cars at our green light on La Paz Speedway have to wait for the Corvette to make his illegal turn, otherwise, we'd get hit. Also, ten minutes later, the Corvette shows up again, southbound on Alicia Speedway, doing more than 65 mph.

Welcome to the city of bumper cars!

12:30 p.m. A woman, with her cell phone to her head, enters the Plaza de La Paz shopping center, from La Paz Speedway, runs over the curb turning into the Sprouts parking lot, then runs over a second curb turning into the Union Bank parking area. There are so many self-absorbed drivers around here, the curbs are used as bumper pads constantly. Just check out the skid marks along every speedway street curb.

Parc Vista Speedway in Marina Hills

3:40 p.m. Parc Vista, the loop road on the backside of Marina Hills, is a Speedway. Today, two cars, a BMW and a small Ford, decided they needed to drag race, lane drift, and violate noise ordinances on this road. Very dangerous, since there are plenty of blind intersections along the street, and residents who otherwise think the roads are safe around here won't be driving defensively enough to avoid roadiots (that's our new term for road idiots).

Running reds ... a common occurrence in Laguna Niguel

11:45 a.m. Southbound on Golden Lantern Speedway and Via Ladera (at Trader Joe's), the light turns red for the traffic on Golden Lantern, but a driver in a gray Ford pickup decides he'll run the red, three seconds after it has turned red (that's a long time). Luckily the driver turning left into the TJ's parking lot stops to allow the violator to get through the intersection.

Speed through a left turn and hit the curb

10 a.m. A driver in a white Honda sedan, southbound on Alicia Speedway, is turning left into Town Center Drive, she waits, and waits, and waits (the availability for turning left in-or-out of Town Center at Alicia is ridiculous—it's a really poor design relative to the traffic signal timing at the feeder streets of Crown Valley and Pacific Island Drive) and then she finally cuts in front of three cars headed toward her on Alicia, speeds through her turn and hits the curb at Town Center. Perhaps all the city staff who sits at City Hall overlooking these crazy intersections is paying attention.

"I'm on my phone while I put students at risk ..."

2:45 p.m. A woman in a large, black Ford SUV, southbound on Alicia Speedway south of Aliso Creek, is speeding and has her phone to her head. Many students are walking home from school on the sidewalk along Alicia. The driver drifts into the bike lane, crosses it, hits the curb, and swerves back into the driving lane. Had she jumped the curb, this would have been a horrible accident. After scuffing the curb, she sped off, across three lanes, without signaling and without putting her phone down.