[Tondtar]

Today's traffic was hell in and around West LA on the way to work. I expected it since I saw on morning TV's traffic report that there had been a traffic fatality on I-10 near I-405. This is the spot that has been called "the busiest freeway intersection" in US for many years. So I-10 freeway was closed off and all of its traffic was being diverted to surface roads around W. Los Angeles, where I live. This was a really bad, fiery, head on collision apparently - with two fatalities on the spot and one sever injury case resulting from one of the cars driving in the wrong direction of the freeway :

http://www.ktla.com/landing_topstori...02&feedID=1198

So, I am sitting in the heavy traffic in the streets and witnessing everyone's flabbergasted expression and trying to suppress my own when I notice the van in front of me at the traffic light. It was from Coroners' office on its way to the crash site. So, it hit me hard ...It was going to pick up remains of people who were surely loved and will be missed by family and friends. What a shame...

It is easy for us to get lost in enthusiasm of owning a nice, fast car here. We see stories of street racing, macho bravado and driving under influence posted here once in awhile. Some people get irked by them and try to talk sense and some others try to argue otherwise that if you have a driver license, you must be grown up enough to take responsibility for your actions. For me, it has nothing to do with age, what kind of car one drives or how much money he or she has. It's more like how responsible you feel TO OTHER people's well being and safety when you sit behind a wheel. When you see incidents like today's, you realize that a life lost as a result of irresponsible or unsafe actions is not limited to the one taking his/ her final ride in a coroner's van. Those who are left behind lose a part of theirs too. So why risk it for a moment of enjoyment?


Be safe out there ....

P.S. Please ignore my dancing chicken below. She is oblivious to my true feelings. So let her be

[MadDog]

Sad.

[///Mandy]

Wow.
Some good points you made there, OP.

[NewSong]

Heard about this on the train to work. Gruesome!

[NDeedOne]

wow.... that's bad.

[Bimmeration]

sigh.

[Whostheboss]

rip

[in5ane_3]

I saw this on the news in the morning. It's a very unfortunante event to hear, may they rest in peace.

[JBiddy]

.....RIP

[MadDog]

Originally Posted by F000007

I was wondering why it took me an hour and a half to get from the intersection of Pico & Cloverfield to the intersection of Pico & Overland. Really sad to hear such a tragic story, the cops however should have handled the situation better, not just let people cram the streets and stop traffic completely for over an hour.

Unfortunately, when they investigate a fatality, closing the highway/freeway becomes necessary. Diverting the highway cars onto city streets was the only option.

[khuuster]

so why was he driving in the wrong direction and HOW? suicide?

[Heinzftw]

Wow very sad.
Btw what were the car models that were involved in the car crash? A friend that lives in L.A just got TL-SH which he can't seem to control and has almost crashed many times.

[FStop7]

A head on on I-10? How the hell do you even get onto I-10 going the wrong way? And how do you get into a heavy enough crash on that part of I-10 to kill someone, when it's gridlock? The cars are only moving like 5 or 10mph. That is terrible, yet it also makes no sense.

OK now I see, it happened at 5AM. And it was a cop that was killed, that's terrible.

I've never seen as many wrong-way traffic crashes in my entire life as I have after just 1 year of living in LA. What the fuck is wrong with people here?

[Tondtar]

Originally Posted by ///Mandy

Wow.
Some good points you made there, OP.

Thanks, Mandy. Now, if only I remember them myself when I am behind the wheels on public roads.

Originally Posted by F000007

Absolutely, no question about that, the thing is that they had nobody directing/diverting traffic in different directions so to avoid complete halt. It also becomes hazardous for a lot more people as everybody is trying to squeeze into tight spaces and there could easily be more minor accidents as a result of that. This was by far the worst traffic situation I've ever been in here in LA, and I've definitely witnessed and gone through a lot of similar situations over many years.

+1 ...By the time they called the traffic control guys (usually the meter maids!), it was too late. It was a tangled mess and people were too anxious for the fear of being late to work.

Originally Posted by Heinzftw

Wow very sad.
Btw what were the car models that were involved in the car crash? A friend that lives in L.A just got TL-SH which he can't seem to control and has almost crashed many times.

This gives a bit more detail. One victim was an off-duy police officer in a Dodge Charger. The other car driven by the young guy responsible for the crash looks like an older Toyota Camry.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...tory?track=rss

Originally Posted by khuuster

so why was he driving in the wrong direction and HOW? suicide?

The driver responsible who got killed was a 21 year old guy. They are looking into evidence of alcohol or drug use now.

Originally Posted by FStop7

A head on on I-10? How the hell do you even get onto I-10 going the wrong way? And how do you get into a heavy enough crash on that part of I-10 to kill someone, when it's gridlock? The cars are only moving like 5 or 10mph. That is terrible, yet it also makes no sense.

Happened before 5:00 a.m. and it was still dark.

[Rick]

So sad... this kind of stuff happens on PCH in Santa Monica/Malibu every few months.. I seriously think it's about time that the government should enforce a mandatory, behind-the-wheel driving test every ~5 years. It is way too easy for some to get a driver's license and fuck-up other peoples' lives.

[mpimping]

this isn't the uhaul chase is it? http://cbs2.com/carchase/U.Haul.Woman.2.920536.html

[FStop7]

Originally Posted by mpimping

this isn't the uhaul chase is it? http://cbs2.com/carchase/U.Haul.Woman.2.920536.html

the article says the car crash happened at 5AM in LA.

the u-haul chase is happening right now.

What the fuck do YOU think?

[BimmerRat]

That morning, I was driving south on the 405, approaching the 10 and my entire navigation screen was filled with white circles with Xs. Thought my screen was being screwy...

very sad story