Is driving in Los Angeles scary? (Glendale, Santa Monica: rental, home, living in)

[phillyiscoldaf]

I'm accustomed to driving in Philly and the drivers here aren't aggressive at all. My friends that visit from other places get scared from all the "tailgating" and "lane changes" and people "cutting each other off", but I fail to notice it as abnormal behavior. I also drive to northeast NJ regularly for visiting family which is a bit more fast paced than Philly but very manageable.

I will be visiting Los Angeles in a few weeks and I was wondering if I should drive in a rental or just avoid it by getting an Uber or relying on other car services.

In all honesty, I just assume that Los Angeles drivers will be very aggressive since it seems like they spend all of their time in their cars so that's what I'm scared about. Lol

So, how are LA drivers compared to Philly drivers?

The streets look like they're in much better condition than here on the east coast, so I'm not worried about that. I'm just worried about driving behavior.

Are LA drivers dangerous? Lots of accidents?

Again, I'd like to hear something from someone that's driven in the NY/NJ/Philly area as well as LA.

I'll be staying in West LA.

Thanks

[BRinSM]

If you can handle the urban northeast driving conditions you should be able to handle LA.

[UserName14289]

No. Don't let your friend scare you. I'm from the Mid-atlantic, lived all over MD and in Philly. Spend a lot of time in NJ and NYC. Lived in CA (SoCal) three times. The drivers in SoCal change lanes without looking and don't let you in when you need to merge. They tailgate, but they aren't aggressive in the Miami sense of "I think I'm going to die". lol You will be just fine. There's way too much traffic congestion in LA (even at 4am) to go fast enough to be worried about anything more than a minor collision. If you've driven in Jersey just outside of NYC, that's similar to LA, you'll do just fine. (P.S. If your user name stands for what I think it does, I got a good chuckle. lol)

So, the lesson learned from the above: plan to merge much earlier than you think you need to and give extra space in front of you since someone is probably on your tail or might cut you off without looking. Done.

[dgermaine]

One thing that takes a lotta getting used to in LA is that compared to the midwest and most of the east coast, there are mountains and canyons that make driving scary for those of us new to driving here. Highway and surface driving are more or less the same, just with more cars. But when cutting through the canyons to get to the valley, it's a bit terrifying- especially in places like Coldwater Canyon where there aren't any guard rails in certain sections. If you make a mistake, you could literally die as several people do each year

[phillyiscoldaf]

Originally Posted by UserName14289

No. Don't let your friend scare you. I'm from the Mid-atlantic, lived all over MD and in Philly. Spend a lot of time in NJ and NYC. Lived in CA (SoCal) three times. The drivers in SoCal change lanes without looking and don't let you in when you need to merge. They tailgate, but they aren't aggressive in the Miami sense of "I think I'm going to die". lol You will be just fine. There's way too much traffic congestion in LA (even at 4am) to go fast enough to be worried about anything more than a minor collision. If you've driven in Jersey just outside of NYC, that's similar to LA, you'll do just fine. (P.S. If your user name stands for what I think it does, I got a good chuckle. lol)

So, the lesson learned from the above: plan to merge much earlier than you think you need to and give extra space in front of you since someone is probably on your tail or might cut you off without looking. Done.

Hah, that's crazy... You'd be dead if you tried to change lanes without looking in Philly or NJ. Cause of death: sideswiped by soccermom going 85 mph in her Mercedes SUV. How tragic.

Well, I guess I can look forward to some relaxed driving and not cold AFweather now!

[Radical347]

Drivers in LA are fairly sedate in my opinion. Just be aware there are tons of them at all hours.

[phillyiscoldaf]

Originally Posted by Radical347

Drivers in LA are fairly sedate in my opinion. Just be aware there are tons of them at all hours.

Thanks for the tip! Is it really as bad as people claim?

I'll be staying in Glendale from Thursday to Wednesday the following week and going to places like Santa Monica, Culver City, Koreatown, West Hollywood, and even all the way out into Malibu. What will the driving be like?

[BVitamin]

Originally Posted by phillyiscoldaf

Thanks for the tip! Is it really as bad as people claim?

I'll be staying in Glendale from Thursday to Wednesday the following week and going to places like Santa Monica, Culver City, Koreatown, West Hollywood, and even all the way out into Malibu. What will the driving be like?

Hey, I'm living in Philly at the moment originally from SoCal. I was just in Los Angeles for about a couple weeks. I think L.A. drivers are better at driving than drivers in this region, more courteous too. Yes, you'll be surprise about the amount of cars there but people in L.A. are more accustomed to road rules than people here. This of course is just my experience.

Depending on what time you drive, I would suggest avoiding times people usually go to work and go home from work.

[disgruntled la native]

LA drivers are mostly ok, except for Armenians and inexperienced youth. Still, driving on a major freeway or artery afterhours on a weekend is extremely scary due to the drunks.

[Big-Bucks]

I'd be more worried about the driver who is texting than a reckless driver. There's too much grid lock for anyone to drive like a maniac in LA anyway.