Better Red Than Dead on L.A. Streets

I was driving along Beverly Boulevard recently when I realized that I was starting to turn into a true Angeleno. It occurred when the traffic signal in my path was about to blink red, and I was faced with the choice of braking to a halt or racing through it.

With little hesitation, I stomped on the accelerator and ran the light. No sooner was I through the intersection than I chastised myself. It was a foolish, unnecessary risk. It was unsafe. It was illegal. And, unfortunately, it was absolutely routine behavior on L.A. streets.

The law of physics holds that two objects cannot inhabit the same space at the same time, yet many local drivers are apparently unaware of this fact.

In the year or so that I’ve lived in Los Angeles, I’ve watched countless cars, trucks, RTD buses and even police cars race breakneck through red lights and across the paths of rushing traffic with seeming impunity, their drivers oblivious to the danger to themselves and others. After a traffic signal flashes green I’ve learned to count to five--slowly--before entering an intersection to make sure I’m not blind-sided by some miscreant in a hurry. Sometimes even that precaution isn’t enough though, and driving becomes a form of vehicular “chicken.”

I learned to drive defensibly before I arrived here. During eight years in Washington, I fought and survived many battles on the Beltway, and I cut my teeth learning to steer a green Dodge down the pot-holed mean streets of Manhattan. But neither of these trials prepared me for the automotive slam-dancing encountered here.

The prevailing attitude about red lights in Los Angeles seems to be that they don’t really mean stop, so push your pedal to the metal. I was taught that red lights commanded me to come to a complete halt, and anything less earned a stern rebuke from my driver’s ed instructor, who never once mentioned anything about grace periods. That command is now no more than a whimper, however, and many drivers have conquered their inhibitions about flouting traffic laws in broad daylight.

Spending time in congested Los Angeles traffic is akin to rush hour in Purgatory; I understand motorists’ reluctance to surrender their hard-won momentum every couple of blocks, but as more drivers subordinate the rules of the road to their personal whim (“Am I in the mood to brake for pedestrians today?”), safety and courtesy on the road are further eroded. This epidemic can be easily cured. Perhaps it’s time to put a little bite back in the law. According to a police spokesman, failure to obey a red light is punishable by a $90 fine and one point levied against one’s license. These penalties should be immediately doubled and rigidly enforced.

What’s most disturbing about this trend is what it portends. The South Coast Air Quality Management District recently proposed ideas that would dramatically alter ordinary life in Southern California--such as staggered workdays, van-pooling and vehicles powered by alternative fuels--in an effort to improve our already fetid air.

If we refuse to recognize the manifest self-interest in complying with something as basic and concrete as traffic rules, how will the government ever persuade us to go along with the more intrusive but necessary changes to clean up the environment? The center will not hold; instead, it will careen toward oblivion, no doubt running any red light or stop sign in its path.