On LA Traffic

Being a motorcyclists now for the past month, and as such, being immune from traffic (CA allows lane splitting, and motorcycles are allowed in the carpool lane, which is the whole reason I got the bike in the first place), I have come to observe LA traffic very intimately.  Being on a bike allows you a full view of things in a more open manner than what you see in a car, as well as being able to keep riding, when the freeways are at a dead stop allows you to move ahead and see the "causes" of traffic.  With all this I have come to a singular conclusion:  Los Angeles folk LOVE their traffic. It seems that they just LIKE moving slow and losing hours off their life.

Explain? Okay. Well most traffic that I've seen doesn't have a real reason, that can be concretely explained, or accounted for.  Granted, there are some real reasons traffic occurs, like accidents, especially those with fatalaties, as authorities have cleanup and investigating to do. But in LA there is traffic EVERY day. Crippling traffic too, where it takes you an hour to go 5 miles.  And most of the reasons for traffic are as follows:

1. Looky-Loos : It seems that most drivers view their windshield as a television. Everything going on outside is a show where the drama unfolds. As such, they slow down to look at EVERYTHING!!! Guy getting a simple ticket on the side of the road? HEY LETS ALL SLOW DOWN TO WATCH A POLICE OFFICER WRITE ON A PIECE OF PAPER!!! Then they realize they are wasting precious seconds that they can never get back and continue along, but not before continuing the wave of traffic for MILES BEHIND THEM!

2. Speed Retards: These are just the people that seem to just like moving slow. There's no excuse for their slowness...no traffic in front of them, nobody getting a ticket, nothing in their lane, they are just slow ass people. I have witnessed cars in the Carpool Lane, with no one in front of them going 45!!! FIFTY IN AN EMPTY CARPOOL LANE!! And they are oblivious to the miles of backup building behind them.  The worst is the Looky-Loo mixed with the Speed Retard. They slowed down to view something going on, but NEVER SPED UP AFTER!! They continue on at a snails pace, and not only do they cause backup in their lane, but they cause backups in the other lanes, as cars are moving over trying to pass them.

3.  Forethoughtless: These are the people that apparently are surprised by their exit, though they've probably been commuting back and forth for longer than they can remember, so it results in them trying to cut across 5 lanes in .00001 miles. Which means stopping, because every inch counts, if they want to reach their exit, moving over, stopping again, moving over, etc etc...creating LANES OF TRAFFIC IN THEIR WAKE! One of these idiots can back up traffic farther than you can imagine.

There's much more, but I really gotta get to work, so maybe I'll write more later. All I'm saying is that they should post snipers at every overpass, waiting to take out any of these offenders.Wait, that'd probably cause more traffic, during the cleanup. Maybe helicopters with giant magnets can come down and remove these cars LOL. In a place overpopulated like LA, and where everyone has to drive a car, causing traffic should not be tolerated.