Is driving in Los Angeles scary? (Pasadena, Fairfax: coupon, shop, safe)

[phillyiscoldaf]

These replies are interesting. I never perceived the northeast as being very "dangerous" or "aggressive". I wouldn't even consider NYC to be all that "scary" or "dangerous".. just a bit more efficient and fast paced

I actually thought SoCal would be where the aggressive drivers are because of the fact that everyone's probably pissed off about the traffic.

[phillyiscoldaf]

Originally Posted by LAappraiser

The "fast" lane can be really fast and in the far right lane you are subject to the aforementioned "dashers".

How fast?

[darkone]

Originally Posted by phillyiscoldaf

Oh, great.. I hate slow drivers. I'm your typical east coast driver that honks at anyone that doesn't let go of the brake pedal 1-2 seconds after the light turns green..

I'll definitely check out PCH though! It looks gorgeous

In general, I would keep honking to a minimum unless absolutely required - many of the natives and long-time residents seem especially sensitive to it out here. People in general don't like to be rushed out here, when at a stoplight or when crossing the street or walking in general or at the checkout line etc. They take their own sweet time, like they have all the time in the world - it is the SoCal way and very noticeable if one is from the urban northeast, so when in Rome ...

[phillyiscoldaf]

Originally Posted by darkone

In general, I would keep honking to a minimum unless absolutely required - many of the natives and long-time residents seem especially sensitive to it out here. People in general don't like to be rushed out here, when at a stoplight or when crossing the street or walking in general or at the checkout line etc. They take their own sweet time, like they have all the time in the world - it is the SoCal way and very noticeable if one is from the urban northeast, so when in Rome ...

Odd! I hear 10+ honks during rush hour just walking 8 blocks to work lol

[Exitus Acta Probat]

Originally Posted by darkone

In general, I would keep honking to a minimum unless absolutely required - many of the natives and long-time residents seem especially sensitive to it out here. People in general don't like to be rushed out here, when at a stoplight or when crossing the street or walking in general or at the checkout line etc. They take their own sweet time, like they have all the time in the world - it is the SoCal way and very noticeable if one is from the urban northeast, so when in Rome ...

Agreed -- I would not mess with the horn in L.A.

Not long ago, a woman was speeding down a street and honked when a man turned onto her street and made her slow down. She honked again, and this time he stopped, got out of his car, walked up to her passenger side window, and said, "Honk again. Honk one more time..." She had nowhere to go (the road had a median so she couldn't get around him) and was probably fairly scared of this guy who was most likely already having a bad day and was about ready to really go off on somebody.

So don't mess with the horn -- you really don't know exactly with whom you're dealing.

[seain dublin]

Originally Posted by darkone

I would say that driving here is not scary but is more annoying if anything, due to large volume of cars most of the time on the freeways and many arterials. Even more than what you find in all the northeastern metro areas. I moved from Northern NJ. It felt harder driving there due to the higher percentage of aggressive drivers and the nature of the roads compared to LA. I can best compare the LA driving experience to being on a slow-moving or stop and start conveyor belt. Or better yet, it is analogous to walking slowly in a huge crowd of people. It allows for a pretty passive driving experience. In the northeast, on the other hand, I used to feel more tension and it was necessary to be more competitive on the road, although some of that is definitely required in LA as well, such as when exiting or entering freeways, making a left on green, etc.

I will take LA driving any day over the northeast. First off we have freeways here, not 3 lane parkways. The problem with the NE is the roads never really expanded to keep up with the population.


Who the hell wants to go through life with aggressive drivers? I was in NY/NJ in the fall of 2014. Now I grew up in NY but I found the drivers to be awful. I pulled over a few times in NJ on back roads, doing over the speed limit wasn't good enough they're still on your a**.

Originally Posted by phillyiscoldaf

Oh, great.. I hate slow drivers. I'm your typical east coast driver that honks at anyone that doesn't let go of the brake pedal 1-2 seconds after the light turns green..

I'll definitely check out PCH though! It looks gorgeous

Perhaps you better use Uber. You're a guest here.

Originally Posted by darkone

In general, I would keep honking to a minimum unless absolutely required - many of the natives and long-time residents seem especially sensitive to it out here. People in general don't like to be rushed out here, when at a stoplight or when crossing the street or walking in general or at the checkout line etc. They take their own sweet time, like they have all the time in the world - it is the SoCal way and very noticeable if one is from the urban northeast, so when in Rome ...

No on is really taking their "sweet time" here, maybe you need to learn to breathe.


As I said above I was in NY/NJ. I learned in Morristown, NJ a crosswalk means nothing. Unlike here the cars don't stop. I even noticed on Saturdays people harried and rushed(and rude) for no reason in the stores, not a good way to live.


If you prefer that maybe you should head back.

[adr3naline]

It may be overwhelming as a guest, but once you're familiar with the layout it's not bad at all. Since the average Angeleo spends so much time in their car I like to think they're pretty well behaved on the road. Most of the time merging is a thing of beauty and traffic moves at more of a crawl than the dreaded "stop-and-go".

Those dang Prius drivers though...they never learn.

[disgruntled la native]

Originally Posted by phillyiscoldaf

Oh, great.. I hate slow drivers. I'm your typical east coast driver that honks at anyone that doesn't let go of the brake pedal 1-2 seconds after the light turns green..

I'll definitely check out PCH though! It looks gorgeous

That is annoying. You sound like a nice person, but that sort of attitude (impatient driver, even though inherently a decent person) can get you killed here, or at least threatened.

Also, there's a difference between light tap of the horn and obnoxious horn blaring. If I'm stopped behind someone and the light turns green, I usually give about 4 seconds before I'll give a light tap of the horn. Most people don't mind that.

I always laugh at the people who swerve through traffic, going as fast as they can. What freaking hurry are they in? Did their husband just have a heart attack and they need to rush home? Are they about to get fired if they're a minute late? OK, maybe.

But 99% of the time it's nothing. They're just speeding because they want to. They aren't late, they don't actually have anywhere (at least anywhere important) to be. And most of the time, we end up stopped at the same red lights!

[adr3naline]

Originally Posted by disgruntled la native

That is annoying. You sound like a nice person, but that sort of attitude (impatient driver, even though inherently a decent person) can get you killed here, or at least threatened.

Also, there's a difference between light tap of the horn and obnoxious horn blaring. If I'm stopped behind someone and the light turns green, I usually give about 4 seconds before I'll give a light tap of the horn. Most people don't mind that.

People beep at inattentive drivers at stoplights all the time here.

Per your example, four (4) seconds of said inattentive driver impeding traffic means part of the drivers in your line don't make the next light, further congesting traffic in a butterfly effect. That makes everyone disgruntled.

[phillyiscoldaf]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

No on is really taking their "sweet time" here, maybe you need to learn to breathe.


As I said above I was in NY/NJ. I learned in Morristown, NJ a crosswalk means nothing. Unlike here the cars don't stop. I even noticed on Saturdays people harried and rushed(and rude) for no reason in the stores, not a good way to live.


If you prefer that maybe you should head back.

How is that bad? You have 24 hours in a day! That's plenty of time to jam countless activities into it. I work 12 hours, run errands, and have time for dinner with friends in one day.

I also objectify store workers/restaurant employees because they're just doing their job and working to serve customers. There's no reason to start small talk with them or be 100% nice to them... They'll never see you again.