WHY L.A. TRAFFIC SUCKS #10: PESKY, ANNOYING LITTLE QUIRKS THAT SLOW DOWN TRAFFIC: L.A. drivers on cell phones!
I saw a bumper sticker in L.A. that read, "Shut up, hang up and drive!" They should pass those out for free and put them on every bumper in town. It says it all.
Still, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety through the U.S. Census Bureau would add:
"Safety experts agree: driving and talking on a cell phone can be hazardous. For a safe drive, avoid all distractions – talking on cell phones, eating or drinking. And wear your seat belt. Photo by Heather Schmaedeke for the U.S. Census Bureau. [Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety]"
SOLUTION #9: WHAT CAN BE DONE TO FIX IT?
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Bushy has left a new comment on your post ""WHY" L.A. traffic sucks: OPEN DISCUSSION":
"I have a solution that would solve 2 of the traffic problems...
Make it a $100 fine for using a cell phone while driving. In fact increase the fine for each subsequent violation.
This will speed-up traffic, and the money could go toward other traffic solutions."
Posted by Bushy to L.A. traffic sucks: Let's fix it! at 4/28/2006 10:25:40 AM
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Thanks for the suggestion, Bushy. It's a good one!
This is the 10th reason L.A. traffic sucks we have posted. It is the first one in which we mention L.A. drivers. We had not brought them up until now. But they, too, share some of the blame for the traffic problems. And drivers on cell phones are just the tip of the iceberg. From today on we'll start posting some reasons L.A. traffic sucks because of L.A. drivers.
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Photo courtesy of the U.S. Census Bureau :-)
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Related articles on livescience.com
-Poll: Ban Cell Phones While Driving
-Drivers on Cell Phones Kill Thousands, Snarl Traffic
-Distracted Drivers: Even 'Hands-Free' Talking is Dangerous
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Tuesday, May 09, 2006
WHY L.A. traffic sucks #10: Pesky, annoying quirks: L.A. drivers on cell phones!
Thursday, May 04, 2006
WHY L.A. traffic sucks #9: Pesky annoying quirks: Signs
WHY L.A. TRAFFIC SUCKS #9: PESKY, ANNOYING LITTLE QUIRKS THAT SLOW DOWN TRAFFIC: Signs
It's bad enough that you missed you exit and decided to take the next exit to make a U-turn, get back on the freeway and take the exit your missed. It is quite a surprise that - lo and behold! - there's NO easy way to make a U-turn and get right back on the freeway. It is quite a SHOCK to find out that the freeway entrance is NOWHERE TO BE FOUND!! And - hold on to your seats! - there are NO clear signs ANYWHERE to help you find it. This isn't, say, Texas where everything has been planned and laid out very well and you can exit a freeway and get right back on or make a U-turn without any problem. At times L.A. seems a patchwork mess that came about and was put together who knows how! I have seen Japanese businessmen going very slowly on a freeway, completely lost and trying to figure out where in the world they are and how to get where they are going.
L.A. is not a city exclusively for "angelenos"/locals and newcomers moving to the area. L.A. is a world destination, a city that attracts millions of tourists, businessmen, professionals, conventioneers, entertainment people and just plain visitors. A great number of such people on the road, completely lost or disoriented, at any one time, is a guaranty that traffic will be affected. Hesitant drivers slow down traffic. Confident drivers keep traffic flowing.
SOLUTION #9: WHAT CAN BE DONE TO FIX IT?
While there's NOTHING that can be done about all those quirky freeway entrances and exits (there are way too many!). SOMETHNG can be done to make sure there are CLEAR and VISIBLE signs leading you to them and leading you CLEARLY AND CONFIDENTLY to your destination.
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Photo courtesy of Casey Cooper from his website Highway 56 Information
I'm not familiar with Highway 56. It's not in the L.A. area, I don't think. But this great pic makes my point perfectly: a sign out in the middle of nowhere that points to nowhere.
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Wednesday, May 03, 2006
WHY L.A. traffic sucks #8: Pesky annoying quirks: Dips and Potholes
WHY L.A. TRAFFIC SUCKS #8: PESKY, ANNOYING LITTLE QUIRKS THAT SLOW DOWN TRAFFIC: Dips and Potholes
DIPS:
Try the ones on California in Santa Monica or the ones on any street parallel to Santa Monica Blvd. and north of it in Beverly Hills before all STOP signs (yes, yes, yes, these are actually "speed bumps" to discourage drivers from taking this route instead of clogged Santa Monica Blvd. and disturb exclusive Beverly Hills residents, right?), or, better yet, try the MOTHER OF ALL DIPS on Crescent Heights at Third : either drive an SUV or wreck your Bearmer or Mercedes (or Ferrari) on that murderous one!
Who the hell ever thought of "dips" for ANY reason or purpose? Dips are either inverted "speed bumps" or simply sloppy workmanship. What is the purpose of that horrible DIP on the north side of Crescent Heights at Third Street, pray tell? What purpose does it serve except to slow down traffic? And WHAT will it take for the city of L.A. to fix it? I'm sure it's not on their list of priorities, even though that murderous dip is slowing down traffic, aggravating drivers and I wouldn't be surprised if it's causing some accidents. Someone driving a HIGH SUV with huge tires will not slow down as much over that dip. But someone driving a LOW brand-new Japanese car probably will. If the SUV is behind the Japanese car and the SUV is going at high speed to cross that intersection, it might ram itself into the slowing Japanese car. To avoid any such ocurrance that MURDEROUS DIP needs to be leveled, smoothed over perfectly and REMOVED forever.
POTHOLES:
Hollywood!! Try the stretch of Sunset Blvd. from La Brea to Highland. Try Orange down near Santa Monica and the streets behind the north-west side of Santa Monica and Highland: completely TORN UP (WHY is Hollywood such a dump? Would ANYONE care to explain that one to me? WHERE is all that "glamour" that they display on TV? Is all that ONLY for Oscar night?). Westwood-Bel-Air: Try the right lane of Sunset from Beverly Glenn to about Veteran. The right lane is all TORN UP. Venice: Many parts of Lincoln: all TORN UP.
Do I need say more? Whoever is not driving an SUV and doesn't want to wreck their car, WILL slow down on that stretch of road.
SOLUTION #8: WHAT CAN BE DONE TO FIX IT?
A modern city needs well-paved roads to keep traffic flowing smoothly. There are parts of L.A. where one wonders, "Do they even pay their taxes here? And if they do, WHERE is that money going?"
People pay their taxes in this city, don't they? Then GIVE THEM BACK THEIR MONEY'S WORTH. A city of SO MANY MILLIONS OF PEOPLE who pay their taxes DESERVE WELL-PAVED ROADS. Torn-up roads full of dips and potholes affect traffic: there is NO question about it.
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Monday, May 01, 2006
WHY L.A. traffic sucks #6: Pesky annoying quirks: Street parking
WHY L.A. TRAFFIC SUCKS #6: PESKY, ANNOYING LITTLE QUIRKS THAT SLOW DOWN TRAFFIC: Street parking
When parking is allowed (anytime other than 7:00-9:00am or 4:00-7:00pm), Crescent Heights, from Santa Monica Boulevard to Pico, becomes a two-way, two-lane street (one lane in each direction) instead of the FOUR lane street it actually is (two lanes in each direction). Anyone making a left anywhere from Santa Monica Boulevard all the way down to Pico (anytime other than 7:00-9:00am or 4:00-7:00pm when left turns are not allowed) STOPS traffic on the left lane dead in its tracks (there are no left only lanes in that whole stretch. See previous post: "WHY L.A. TRAFFIC SUCKS #5: PESKY, ANNOYING LITTLE QUIRKS THAT SLOW DOWN TRAFFIC: NO LEFT TURN ONLY lanes").
If you want to keep going and are lucky enough to be able to switch to the right lane to do so, sometimes (let's not say all the time), even though parking is NOT allowed at peak traffic hours (7:00-9:00am - 4:00-7:00pm), cars are STILL parked past 7:00am or past 4:00pm on Crescent Heights. You're driving on the right lane and BOOM!!! suddenly there's a car (or invariably CARS!) parked up ahead!! These cars should not only be ticketed (a very high fine!!), they also should be TOWED. Where's fascist Parking Enforcement when you need it? (See "WHY L.A. TRAFFIC SUCKS #6: PESKY, ANNOYING LITTLE QUIRKS THAT AGGRAVATE TRAFFIC: fascist parking enforcement" in a few days) If your parking meter runs out of money and goes over by ONE MINUTE, parking enforcers are there waiting--READY--to give you a ticket. But when they are REALLY NEEDED to keep traffic flowing, they are NOWHERE to be seen. I've seen cars parked on Crescent Heights from Santa Monica to Pico past 4:00pm, when there should be NO cars parked on that whole stretch, without any ticket on them. This is one parking enforcement rule that SHOULD be enforced, but that, apparently, is something Parking Enforcement couldn't care less about. They care only about collecting money for their coffers, it seems (it makes you wonder where it goes and what they do with it all!!).
SOLUTION #6: WHAT CAN BE DONE TO FIX IT?
IF PARKING IS ALLOWED, SOMEONE ALWAYS VIOLATES THE PARKING RULES AND PARKS PAST 7:00AM OR PAST 4:00PM AND CLOGS TRAFFIC FOR EVERYBODY ELSE. Why should one or two people have the right to clog and slow down traffic for everybody else? Either "left only" lanes need to be put in on that stretch of Crescent Heights and other places where they are needed or street parking cannot be allowed 7:00am to 7:00pm Monday-Sunday. PERIOD. CASE CLOSED. END OF STORY. There's no two ways about it. You have to keep traffic flowing in the L.A. area. ANYTHING that contributes to the gridlock must be eliminated. Sure, this or that resident on that stretch of Crescent Heights (or any other street) will be up in arms about it. NO solution will please everybody (See "WHY L.A. traffic sucks: OPEN DISCUSSION #1: Up in Arms!"). But SOMETHING MUST BE DONE. American metropolitan areas are facing the same dilemma as overweight people: find a way to keep those arteries FLOWING [GO!] by good diet and exercise or face the consequences. It's that simple.
Parking is a BIG issue in a city where, at times, it seems that there are more cars than people, a city that wasn't really prepared or designed for such explosive urban growth. We'll have to come back to this issue and deal it with more "in-depth." We'll also re-visit that fascist entity that sucks in L.A., "Parking Enforcement." Like the MTA, they're worthy of a whole blog dedicated to the ways in which they suck...
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Photo collage by italianesco :-)
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Saturday, April 29, 2006
WHY L.A. traffic sucks #5: Pesky annoying quirks: NO "left only" lanes
"WHY L.A. TRAFFIC SUCKS #5: PESKY, ANNOYING LITTLE QUIRKS THAT SLOW DOWN TRAFFIC: NO "left turn only" lanes
Try any of the corners of Crescent Heights from Melrose to San Vicente and feel like flying into "road rage" as you're stuck forever behind someone turning left while all the smart ones whizz by on your right! (this problem is closely tied to the previous post: Unprotected Lefts and to the following issue to be posted tomorrow: "WHY L.A. TRAFFIC SUCKS #6: PESKY, ANNOYING LITTLE QUIRKS THAT SLOW DOWN TRAFFIC: Street parking")
The conspicuous absence of a north-south freeway right down the middle of the West Side makes ANY street connecting Sunset to I-10 a prospective thoroughfare at peak hours. Crescent Heights is the ALTERNATE LA CIENEGA, the only way sometimes to make it south from West Hollywood to I-10 without flying into "road rage." But Crescent Heights can be difficult to navigate with this trident of UNPROTECTED LEFTS, NO LEFT ONLY LANES AND STREET PARKING staring you in the face (NOT to mention "DIPS"! See the post three days from now: "WHY L.A. TRAFFIC SUCKS #8: PESKY, ANNOYING LITTLE QUIRKS THAT SLOW DOWN TRAFFIC: Dips and Potholes.")
From Pico to I-10, Crescent Heights is riddled with stop signs. Fine. That's perfectly understandable since you are going through a residential area and a school zone in that part of it. But from Santa Monica to Pico, Crescent Heights can be a little pain you-know-where because of these three factors, ALL OF WHICH are bad urban planning in the midst of explosive urban growth. This city is past the "urban explotion" point of NO return and is not going back to what it was 60 years ago anytime soon. Urban planners might as well deal with it and prepare Crescent Heights to be the ALTERNATE LA CIENEGA that it ALREADY is. The same must be true of any other north-south street that requires it. La Cienega (forget Fairfax!! You'd have to be insane to take Fairfax!) is NOT ENOUGH to carry traffic from mid-West Side Sunset to I-10 and points beyond.
SOLUTION #5: WHAT CAN BE DONE TO FIX IT?
"LEFT ONLY" LANES NEED TO BE PUT IN ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE THEY ARE REQUIRED TO KEEP TRAFFIC FLOWING IN THE L.A. AREA.
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