From dumping up to 12 million tonnes of plastic into the ocean each year to destroying the habitats of endangered species for our own benefit, humans haven't exactly been the easiest inhabitants of Earth for other occupants of the green planet to live with.

But while most of us are trying to do our bit to waste less, recycle more and make less of an impact on our fragile planet, there are some stories that are so heart-warming that we should all stop to hear them. Like this tale from Auckland, New Zealand, where three whole lanes of traffic stopped to let a family of ducks cross a highway during peak Friday morning traffic.

Ducks don't mind living near humans, but finding themselves on the wrong side of the highway can easily turn deadly. It's unlikely that slow-moving ducks will be spotted by people in fast-moving vehicles who have their minds set on the day's meetings or plans for the weekend.

However, footage of the incident shows that humans are capable of noticing the world around them. In fact, they're even willing to give up a little portion of their morning to make sure a family of ducks comes to safety.

The video was shared by the Auckland division of the New Zealand Transport Agency, who provide live updates and traffic reports on their Twitter. They provided an update early on Friday morning at 7:45am, just as the morning peak hour was starting to build up on the Northern Motorway.

"Please allow a little extra time citybound on the Northern Mwy this morning with minor delays due to ducks crossing near Tristram Ave," they wrote, adding: "NZ Police are now escorting all to safety."

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They were referring, of course, to the duck family, who would be much better off in a nature reserve rather than loitering near highways. The video is almost a minute long and shows how three lanes of traffic came to a halt to let the mother duck and her row of ducklings safely cross.

Without any instruction or warning, the drivers must have seen the duck family approaching the highway and stopped to let them pass. One by one, each lane comes to a stop, and traffic only beings moving once the ducks are safely out of the way. It shows incredible patience from the drivers' part, especially as most of them were probably on their way to work on a Friday morning.

Though there was a resulting traffic delay, the ducks made it across safely. The video really is something special:

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The video got over 7,000 likes and was retweeted more than 2,600 times. Naturally, it attracted a lot of comments too.

"Quite possibly the only worthwhile traffic jam in history," one person joked, while another said "good on you Auckland drivers - no ducks harmed in the making of this".

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Others wondered how the ducks would've been able to get past the concrete barriers that line the sides of the highway.

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The video attracted worldwide attention, with many more eyes landing on the tweet than the usual Auckland commuters who follow the page for traffic updates. Twitter-users praised the patience of the drivers, with some saying that a scene like that would never happen where they live.

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And ultimately, the heart-warming video inspired everyone to do better.

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See? There still is some good in the world!

An overloaded van crashed on a remote south Texas highway, killing at least 10 people and injuring 20 others.

The tragic collision was confirmed by Sgt. Nathan Brandley of the Texas Department of Public Safety, per People.

On Wednesday, August 4, the vehicle, which was carrying around 30 passengers, crashed around 4 PM on US 281 near Encino - ending the lives of the driver and at least nine passengers.

The driver had been speeding and eventually hit a utility pole before slamming into a stop sign.

Per a news release, the van "attempted to turn right at an unsafe speed and veered off the roadway, striking a metal utility pole and a stop sign."

Each of the 10 people who died in the crash was pronounced dead at the scene.

Around 20 survivors were promptly taken to various medical centers nearby - including McAllen Medical Center, Doctors Hospital at Renaissance in Edinburg, Edinburg Regional Hospital, Corpus Christi Spohn Shoreline, and Spohn Kleberg in Kingsville.

They were reported as having serious to critical injuries, the LA Times reports.

An investigation with the Texas Department of Public Safety is currently underway.

According to the authorities, the vehicle was only designed to carry 15 passengers and was top-heavy when it eventually collapsed. The van was not being pursued at the time of the fatal incident.

The passengers, whose identities are currently being withheld, are believed to be migrants.

Encino is a small community of approximately 140 people about 2 miles south of the Falfurrias border patrol checkpoint, an inspection site for vehicles traveling across the border.

A rise in the number of migrants trying to cross the border has led to an increase in fatal crashes. The vehicles involved in these crashes typically carry people paying large amounts of money to be smuggled into the US.

The tragedy comes months after 13 people lost their lives when an SUV full of 25 migrants crashed into a semi-truck in Holtville, California, near the US-Mexico border on March 3.

Later that month, eight migrants died when the pickup truck they were traveling in collided with another vehicle as they were being pursued by the cops around 30 miles north of Del Rio, Texas.

Featured image credit: Volodymyr Tverdokhlib / Alamy

A car has reportedly driven into a crowd of people in Los Angeles, with five people in critical condition and multiple others injured.

As reported by Sky News, the Los Angeles Fire Department reported the incident took place at Santa Monica Boulevard, near Hollywood.

Distressing footage from the site captures a damaged grey car partially mounted on the sidewalk, surrounded by injured pedestrians, as seen by the Sun.

There are currently at least 20 people reported to be injured, with first responders on the scene.

Early reports indicate that between four and five people are in a critical condition, eight to 10 are in a serious condition, and 10 to 15 people are in a "fair" condition.

As reported by the Mirror, victims were seen running away from the vehicle and attempting to get back into a nightclub that had recently closed.

The Sun further reported that LA Fire Department captain Adam Van Gerpen said: "Apparently there was a vehicle which had somebody that lost consciousness inside the vehicle and drove into a taco cart and then ultimately ran into a large number of people that were outside a club in East Hollywood."

A witness who was inside the nightclub told NBC News he heard a "loud bang."

"We look out the club, and it’s a car into the hole right there. And then it's crazy, because people everywhere, laying down, unconscious, people, bleeding out and stuff," he said.

There are reports that one individual is being treated for gunshot wounds.

This is a breaking news story, more to follow...

Featured image credit: halbergman / Getty

Thanksgiving is a time of peace and love, but as everyone will know, ridiculous family members can sometimes get in the way of this.

We've all got that one person in our brood who we can count on for bringing the crazy in the holiday season (god knows some of us have more than one), so when people on Reddit were asked the trashiest thing ever done at their family Thanksgiving, there were dozens of hilarious stories to come...

1.

"My husband's brother and his sister-in-law (who was married to his OTHER brother) always disappeared for about 20-40 minutes at the same time. This happened for four years in a row before anyone got nosey enough to go looking for them. Sister-in-law is now married to the Thanksgiving Hookup Brother."

sexandbooks

2.

"Every year we had Thanksgiving at my grandparents house. One year everyone was there but one aunt. She was outside in her car refusing to come in. Turns out she had taken out a credit card in my cousin's name while said cousin was in the navy. Cousin found out on the drive over while opening her mail. Aunt had racked up $10000+ debt for my cousin."

Hoax13

3.