MetLA

Driving here is a study in barely organized chaos. There are few traffic lights, and no definable lanes, It’s every person for themselves. There are many types of vehicles on the road – trucks, cars, 3 wheel “auto-auto” taxis, bicycles, and carts. The idea is to just throw your vehicle into traffic and spend the day doing a series of narrow misses. People use the horn as often as they use the gas – but it’s not the road-rage, I’m-going-to-get-out-and-beat-you-with-a-golf-club honking. Driver honk loudly and lengthily, but strangely, not aggressively. I never see anyone making a mad gesture or yelling at another driver. It makes for a scene of cars flying, people dodging, horns blaring….but everyone has a strangely impassive look on their face. LA traffic is barbaric by comparison, but not nearly as crowded or chaotic. No one here seems competing with each other in traffic, which is the underlying norm in LA. I have a driver, Shibash, who makes moves with our Scorpio vehicle that make me cringe – U-turn in the middle of 2 jammed lanes? No problem. Left into heavy traffic without a pause? Done. In 7 days here I’ve only seen 1 accident, so something must be going right.