Driving In LA

A public service for those of you planning to drive in the land of angels and freeways.

1. Traffic – LA is famous for its traffic. Even at 3 a.m. on a Sunday morning you could find yourself stuck in a massive freeway backup, caused entirely because Angelenos love waiting until the last possible second to… “merge left”. Think of LA traffic as the counterbalance in a city that has great weather almost year-round, beautiful beaches, scenic drives through mountains/canyons and "car" in its DNA.

2. Secret Traffic Route - There are no secret routes. If someone tells you about a secret route (that hardly anyone knows about) that will help you avoid traffic DO NO LISTEN! Trust me there is no secret route, and if there was, it would not involve going through El Segundo.

3. Angelenos refer to freeways by their numbers and the word ‘the’. So, it’s the 405 and the 10. Please note, that TV/radio traffic reports will often refer to those very same freeways by their names; so, it’s the San Diego Freeway and the Santa Monica freeway. Confusing? Yes!

4. Distance - Angelenos measure distances in time not miles. No Angeleno knows the miles it takes to go anywhere - what we know is how long it will take you to get there: “Long Beach, this time of day - maybe an hour and a half.

5. Rain - It doesn’t rain a lot in LA, but when it does, it throws the entire region off its game. With just the tiniest bit of precipitation, there are “Storm Watch” bulletins, all traffic slows down to a crawl……. drivers brake ‘uphill’, people discover their wipers are streaking and it’s basically the end of the world as Angelenos know it.


6. Anticipate - Angelenos honk their horns at vehicles that don’t move the split second the light changes – so anticipate the honking, NOT the light.

7. First Things First. You can literally see an In-N-Out when your plane lands at LAX. Pick up your convertible rental car, drive over, order your burger ‘animal style’ and enjoy LA.

See you on the 405. *laughing*

I think that applies to traffic in CA overall. It's awful. It is easier to get around the city of Boston than almost anywhere in CA.

I’ll admit LA roads are challenging, but my #1 city for traffic frustration is Denver. Every street downtown was one way and the cross streets were alternating one-way streets. Trust me, just going around the corner was quite the road trip. I haven’t been back in Denver in years, so the grid might have changed - all I know is that the traffic cop that pulled us over, was very good about pointing out all the one-way signs. *wink*

Driving in Phoenix

1. People are obsessed/fanatical about covered parking!
2. Road construction is continuous. ‘Detour barrels’ are moved around for your entertainment pleasure in the middle of the night to make the next day’s driving just that much more exciting.
   
   
3. Road hazards - watch out for dogs, horses, cows, roadrunners, javelinas, coyotes and those detour barrels. Side note – just outside of Tucson I came upon a javelina, trust me, they run a lot faster than you think.
   
   
4. You soon discover why every car in Phoenix has windshield and fabric steering wheel covers.
   
   
5. Going anyplace in Phoenix requires taking Loop 101 and exiting on Indian School Road. *wink*
   

Indian School does go nearly everywhere but I'd stay off the 101 if you have any other options! Actually, you can get nearly anywhere with a combination of the 10 and 202. Shade, however, is at a premium and people will walk 1/2 a mile in 115 degree heat to park in a shady spot. Shade, or lack thereof, is the reason I got a car with a solar panel on the roof (truly) that runs a fan inside the vehicle to keep the inside temperature no hotter than the outside temperature. It was worth every penny.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MRSDS1DONNA

Shade, however, is at a premium and people will walk 1/2 a mile in 115 degree heat to park in a shady spot. Shade, or lack thereof, is the reason I got a car with a solar panel on the roof (truly) that runs a fan inside the vehicle to keep the inside temperature no hotter than the outside temperature. It was worth every penny.

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Donna has a Prius! And I'm thinking white with tan interior. (laughing)
BTW, DB (my Tucson/kale) buddy has been working on his own zombie fan thing, but so far hasn't figured out a way to rig it, or get the hot air out the car. Now I'm old school - Saints logo windshield shade and crack the sunroof. *wink*

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Migflanker

Donna has a Prius! And I'm thinking white with tan interior. (laughing)
BTW, DB (my Tucson/kale) buddy has been working on his own zombie fan thing, but so far hasn't figured out a way to rig it, or get the hot air out the car. Now I'm old school - Saints logo windshield shade and crack the sunroof. *wink*

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haha, yes, I do have a Prius and it just happens to be blizzard pearl with a tan interior (what other color would anyone have in this climate?). I had to order that thing and it took 3 months to come in! Mind you, that was 9 years ago . . .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MRSDS1DONNA

haha, yes, I do have a Prius and it just happens to be blizzard pearl with a tan interior (what other color would anyone have in this climate?). . . .

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Precisely, guessing you'd have a white car with a tan interior in Arizona isn't much of a stretch. But how do you explain that I know you have trouble at four-way stops - who does go first anyway? *wink*

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Migflanker

Precisely, guessing you'd have a white car with a tan interior in Arizona isn't much of a stretch. But how do you explain that I know you have trouble at four-way stops - who does go first anyway? *wink*

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Nope, no trouble. You simply take turns two at a time. The nice thing about drivers in Arizona is that they are polite and actually wait their turn at 3 or 4 way stops.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MRSDS1DONNA

The nice thing about drivers in Arizona is that they are polite and actually wait their turn at 3 or 4 way stops.

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Especially in Scottsdale, where the driver I was behind waved everybody through until we were the only ones left - gracious to a fault. *wink*.

KNX1070...Always

Best traffic reports in LA – you want to know about the big-rig jackknifed on the 405. KNX - traffic & weather every ten minutes on the 5’s.

That's right.

Driving In Atlanta

All directions start with Peachtree and involve passing a Waffle House.

Two things Atlantans will never understand reversible lanes and 'iced tea'.

Atlanta drivers love their car horn and believe it has magical powers to clear lanes if you lay on it long enough.

A forecast of snow triggers Atlantans survival mode - two inches of snow on the roads and there's shouts of "snowmageddon"!

When Atlanta drivers talk about a place called 'Spaghetti Junction' - they're not talking about a place to eat.

Well read...Yes 3 Waffle Houses within 6 miles. And QT (Quick Trip) is 5x the size of a 7 Eleven.

Isn't QuikTrip a gas station?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Migflanker

6. Anticipate - Angelenos honk their horns at vehicles that don’t move the split second the light changes – so anticipate the honking, NOT the light.

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Same can be said about New York drivers, especially taxis.

Driving in NYC takes you through and under things. You notice that when you're coming from LA. *wink*

NYC drivers will brake at a green light, BUT in their defense, NYC pedestrians do walk against red lights, head down looking at their phone, headphones in.

Every car in NYC has dinged-up bumpers (see #2) and NYC drivers can't parallel park. In fact, NYC drivers are the third worst at parallel parking in the entire US, ranking just behind Beverly Hills (valet - no practice) and Oregon drivers "....just a little more.." CRUNCH!

Turn signals, NYC drivers don't us them.

Bicyclists are everywhere

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Migflanker

Driving in NYC takes you through and under things. You notice that when you're coming from LA. *wink*

NYC drivers will brake at a green light, BUT in their defense, NYC pedestrians do walk against red lights, head down looking at their phone, headphones in.

Every car in NYC has dinged-up bumpers (see #2) and NYC drivers can't parallel park. In fact, NYC drivers are the third worst at parallel parking in the entire US, ranking just behind Beverly Hills (valet - no practice) and Oregon drivers "....just a little more.." CRUNCH!

Turn signals, NYC drivers don't us them.

Bicyclists are everywhere

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We had a friend drive us in NYC (he worked there) and I couldn't believe what I saw. He turns on his signal to turn right and we see a ton of people crossing the road. He turns anyway. When I asked if he was worried about hitting someone he said "I'm bigger than they are. They'll move. Or, you know, they won't".

The parking situation was crazy, too. We walked from his office to pick up his car and the cars were on lifts one on top of another to maximize capacity. Three - yes three! - cars in each spot stacked on top of each other.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Migflanker

Isn't QuikTrip a gas station?

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Right. And convenience store like 7/11

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MRSDS1DONNA

The parking situation was crazy, too. We walked from his office to pick up his car and the cars were on lifts one on top of another to maximize capacity. Three - yes three! - cars in each spot stacked on top of each other.

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Yeah, it's all stack 'em, pack 'em & rack 'em, until the power goes out!