When I first moved to Los Angeles, I almost killed several people. It wasn't on purpose although I definitely met a few people that I had evil thoughts about. (Don't worry - I repented that Yom Kippur.) I had tremendous difficulty getting used to the pedestrians that crossed in the middle of the damn street. Doesn't seem right, does it? But it's totally and completely legal. And if I'd hit them, it would have been 100 percent my fault. Yes, you read right… and it’s important that you learn this now. Because your best case scenario is that you'll be cursed at and given the finger. My favorite were the pedestrians that smacked the back of my car when I didn't screech to a halt the second they decide they wanted to cross the street. The first time it happened, it sounded like something outrageous had fallen out of the sky and hit my trunk. I almost hit the car in front of me I was so startled. And if you fail to heed my words of advice, worst case scenario could land you in jail for vehicular manslaughter.
LA has very different laws regarding pedestrians.
You know the phrase, “Pedestrians have the right of way?” Well, Angelenos seem to take that insanely far. You'd think that, in a city dominated by drivers, pedestrians would cross on a red lighta t a designated intersection crosswalk just like they do in New York City. OK, OK, I admit that as a New York pedestrian, I didn't always wait for the crosswalk to light up with the little white person -but I did always make sure that there wasn't a freaking car coming at me 40 miles per hour down the street! In this city, where the number of motor vehicles outweigh the number of pedestrians about 150,000 to one, pedestrians ALSO cross at random crosswalks that appear in the middle of the street without any warning (or an intersection in sight). Oh and by the way, they also cross when there’s NO CROSSWALK AT ALL. And regardless of the speed you (or the car behind you) are going or how hazardous it might be, YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO STOP. It’s bizarre, but EVERY car stops – like there’s some sort of force field around a pedestrian who decides – when three lanes of speeding traffic are coming at them – THAT is the perfect moment to cross San Vicente Boulevard. So learn it, and even if, as a New Yorker (or a person for that matter,) you think it’s ridiculous (because, um, it is), obey it. Because not only is it the LA way, it's also the law. (I learned that while studying for my driver's license written test, which you'll have to take repeatedly if you fail. And if you're laughing at me because I studied, it's time to stop. You'll soon be walking out of the DMV sans California driver's license because you thought you knew all the laws of the road. But we'll leave that another day.
So the lesson of the day is this: it doesn't make sense, but many things about this city never will. Yield to the pedestrians.
Posted byMeesh-elle my Belle
at
5:57 PM
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laws of the road
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OK, let's try this one more time.
I must be techno challenged because i can't seem to get a comment through. So I'll do the condensed version of all my comments. Feel ya on the far away thing.But on your families end how the heck do you think we freakin feel without you here. And today, rough day, rough week, but you made me laugh real hard on the pedestian piece. Guess I'd better stay on the east coast until you have enough money to bail me out, because you know I'm gonna hit the mf, crossing in front of me. Sometimes by accident, maybe on purpose. Love reading you every day. Like having a little bit of you every day. Auntie Maaaar
YEAH I DID IT!!
I'm so proud, but next time I'll spell check. Pedestrian. LOL