{"id":9027,"date":"2013-01-29T12:57:31","date_gmt":"2013-01-29T12:57:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2013\/01\/29\/driving-in-california-aint-what-it-used-to-be\/"},"modified":"2013-01-29T12:57:31","modified_gmt":"2013-01-29T12:57:31","slug":"driving-in-california-aint-what-it-used-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2013\/01\/29\/driving-in-california-aint-what-it-used-to-be\/","title":{"rendered":"Driving in California Ain’t What It Used to Be"},"content":{"rendered":"

I left  my native state of California in 1973 and headed for Boston.  Back in the day, California drivers were very good.  So I was appalled to experience the awful driving habits of Bostonians.  Not as bad as Turks who perform such stunts as driving on sidewalks and backing up in heavy traffic on account of missing a turn, but still very bad.  California is catching up, however, as the once great Golden State becomes the Greece of America, thanks to stupid liberals and their stupid policies.  <\/span><\/p>\n

This<\/a> from that resolute and near-quotidian chronicler of Californication, Victor Davis Hanson (emphasis added):<\/span><\/p>\n

Stagecoach Trails<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Little need be said about infrastructure other than it is fossilized. The lunacy of high-speed rail is not just the cost, but that a few miles from its proposed route are at present a parallel but underused Amtrak track and the 99 Highway, where thousands each day risk their lives in crowded two lanes, often unchanged since the 1960s.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 99, I-5, and 101 are potholed two-lane highways with narrow ramps, and a few vestigial cross-traffic death zones. But we, Californian drivers, are not just double the numbers of those 30 years ago, but \u2014 despite far safer autos and traffic science \u2014 far less careful as well. There are thousands of drivers without licenses, insurance, registration, and elementary knowledge of road courtesy. Half of all accidents in Los Angeles are hit-and-runs.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

My favorite is the ubiquitous semi-truck and trailer swerving in and out of the far left lane with a 20-something Phaethon behind the wheel \u2014 texting away as he barrels along at 70 mph with a fishtailing 20 tons. The right lane used to be for trucks; now all lanes are open range for trucking \u2014 no law in the arena! The dotted lane lines are recommendations, not regulations. (Will young truck drivers be hired to become our new high-speed rail state employee engineers?)<\/span><\/p>\n

When I drive over the Grapevine, I play a sick game of counting the number of mattresses I\u2019ll spot in the road over the next 100 miles into L.A. (usually three to four). Lumber, yard clippings, tools, and junk \u2014 all that is thrown into the back of trucks without tarps. To paraphrase Hillary: what does it matter whether we are killed by a mattress or a 2 x 4? In places like Visalia or Madera, almost daily debris ends up shutting down one of the only two lanes on the 99.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wrecks so far? It is not the number, but rather the scary pattern that counts. I\u2019ve had three in the last 10 years: a would-be hit-and-run driver (the three \u201cno\u201ds: no license, no registration, no insurance) went through a stop sign in Selma, collided with my truck, and tried to take off on foot, leaving behind his ruined Civic; a speeder (80 m.p.h.) in L.A. hit a huge box-spring on the 101 near the 405, slammed on his brakes, skidded into a U-turn in the middle lane, reversed direction, and hit me going 40 m.p.h. head-on (saved by Honda Accord\u2019s front and side air-bags and passive restraint seat harnesses; the injured perpetrator\u2019s first call was to family, not 911); and a young woman last year, while texting, rear-ended me at 50 m.p.h. while I was at a complete stop in stalled traffic in Fresno (thank God for a dual-cab Tundra with a long trailer hitch). She too first called her family to try to help her flee the scene of her wrecked car, but my call apparently reached the Highway Patrol first.<\/span><\/p>\n

Drive enough in California, and you too, reader, will have a \u2018\u201drendezvous with Death, at some disputed barricade.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Why We Need California<\/a><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>Why Dennis Prager Voted Against the California Tobacco Tax<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/fieldset>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I left  my native state of California in 1973 and headed for Boston.  Back in the day, California drivers were very good.  So I was appalled to experience the awful driving habits of Bostonians.  Not as bad as Turks who perform such stunts as driving on sidewalks and backing up in heavy traffic on account … Continue reading “Driving in California Ain’t What It Used to Be”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[92,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-autobiographical","category-california"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9027\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}