Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 beta 3/9/83; site sdcrdcf.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!lwall From: lwall@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Larry Wall) Newsgroups: net.flame Subject: Re: Driving (and walking) in L.A. Message-ID: <436@sdcrdcf.UUCP> Date: Tue, 9-Aug-83 17:38:44 EDT Article-I.D.: sdcrdcf.436 Posted: Tue Aug 9 17:38:44 1983 Date-Received: Tue, 16-Aug-83 00:06:06 EDT References: <91@vortex.UUCP> Reply-To: lwall@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Larry Wall) Organization: System Development Corporation, Santa Monica Lines: 63 I have driven in many parts of the country, and would have to agree that L.A. drivers are among the most courteous. They seem to have figured out that cooperation will get them where they are going faster than selfishness does. (There was an interesting Metamagical Themas in Scientific American about that a few months back.) It's refreshing to see a population choose the cooperative path sans laws when so much of American culture is based on confrontation. A few observations about L.A. drivers are still in order, however. 1. About 10% of the drivers aren't into courtesy. They don't take turns when merging, and if you want to change lanes and start signaling, they speed up to block your way (which is why many people won't signal). I would suspect that some of these people are new to the area and haven't learned the cultural norm yet, but no doubt there are some hard-core twits also. 2. While it is true that L.A. drivers (in general) take turns when merging, they can't decide whether to do it at the beginning or the end of the on ramp when traffic is bolluxed up. About 30% feel morally obliged to merge as soon as possible. The rest feel that the ramp is there to be used, and the normal and proper place to merge is toward the end, regardless of the speed. It's probably a stable situation, since the 30% gets to feel morally superior, and the 70% gets to feel like they're getting somewhere faster, but it's all in good fun, except for a few 30-percentile twits who block both lanes, and a few of the others who end up driving down the shoulder to get ahead. 3. L.A. drivers have freeways and surface streets (as they call them) down pat. It's all they ever see. But get them on a country road and they forget everything they ever knew about sanity. We have to drive a bit of two-lane road (what some of you call a one-lane road [why can't we standardi{z,s}e on whether to count both directions or just one?], though to me that means a road on which you have to back up if you meet someone coming the other way) to work, and have been forced off onto the shoulder several times by people trying to pass coming the other direction. I wouldn't want to go jogging along that road, it could be unhealthful. It seems that L.A. drivers pass when they can't *see* another car coming, never mind whether there's a curve or hill coming up, or whether there's a double yellow line, or an intersection sign. 4. Many L.A. drivers are from elsewhere, and lying under that veneer of civility is a bloodthirsty maniac waiting to get out. Anyone who has driven around LAX (that's the airport they are trying to rebuild in place, while continuing to use it at 105% capacity) at the busier times can attest to this. Or maybe it's just that all the "foreigners" hang around the airport. Anyway, I wouldn't lay any large wagers on cooperation if the bombs are on the way and everyone's trying to get out. Luckily, my brother-in-law (markb@sdcrdcf.UUCP, as it happens) has a four-wheel drive... Enough for now, Larry Wall {hplabs,cbosgd,burdvax,sdccsu3,ihnp4}!sdcrdcf!lwall P.S. (Not enough, I guess.) What I love about Washington (State of) is the 4-way uncontrolled intersections. Whenever you approach a cross-street you have to look for stop signs on the other street, and if there aren't any, watch out! Probably a good practice (watching out), but what a way to enforce it! P.P.S. The article to which I am replying won't be sent out for another 2 days, according to its date. I know some people drive fast in California, but I didn't know they drive THAT fast.