Driving in LA

It seems like everywhere I've ever lived, locals claim that their area has the worst drivers in the country. In their own way, they're always right, too. Every area seems to have its own brand of bad driving. It takes a while to get used to the nuances of transportation every time you move. I still haven't quite figured out LA traffic yet, but I have a few observations.

First of all, yes, the traffic here is miserable. At times, it is (believe it or not) actually worse than Atlanta. Fortunately, I'm getting a feel for when and where traffic will be bad and learning to avoid it whenever possible. Driving to the Staples Center last night for the Clippers game (go Clips!), it wasn't possible.

As for the driving experience itself, I can't quite put my finger on what's wrong with people here, but I think it may have something to do with the enormous sense of entitlement so many Californians have. My other hypothesis is that a lot of wrecks are caused by people gawking at all of the cars on the road that cost more than really nice houses in most parts of the country. I've seen more wrecks (I refuse to call them "accidents" because usually someone was a dumbass and it wasn't accidental at all) in the first two months here than I saw in four years in Atlanta. In the past week alone, I've seen two cars completely upside-down on the freeway. Some jackass wrecked a $1 million Ferrari Enzo a few weeks ago on PCH.

I can't quite put my finger on why, but it just doesn't ever feel as safe driving here as it does anywhere else in the country. Somehow, the traffic seems looser and less organized than anywhere else (even when you're barely moving). I can't tell you how many times I have gone to change lanes while someone else was simultaneously vying for the same spot. When it's not happening to me, I see it happening to other people all around me. The best way I can describe the freeways here is that every individual on the road seems to think they are the only person who has to get somewhere: every other car on the road is just an obstacle and not a transportation device containing human beings. They just deserve to get where they're going before everyone else. Everyone else will understand this and just let them go where they want to.

On the plus side, the fast lane is generally reserved for faster cars (unlike the Carolinas).