No Left Turn

In the early 70s my parents were getting ready to start a family and living in Pittsburgh - their hometown and mine.

Pittsburgh is known for a lot of things: 'dem Stillers ("them Steelers"), Steel Mills (not so much anymore, and with them went all the blue collar jobs), three rivers (the stadium is gone but the rivers remain) and hills, to name a few. Back then the hills were a bit of a problem for my mom, Susan P.
For some reason, in 1971, my parents owned a VW Bug stick-shift which Susan P. was not so adept at driving. Whenever she left the house she would take a moment to plan her route so that she could avoid the hills. . . which is no small task in the 412. Years later, for high school graduation, my aunt gifted me her VW Jetta stick-shift and I quickly learned how difficult a stick could be in Pittsburgh. (After one loop around the block, my aunt suggested my parents get me a professional driving instructor, even though I had been driving an automatic for a year, and the next day, with a friend, I got pulled over by the police while attempting to make a right turn up a hill - I was causing a traffic jam.) I got used to the stick and eventually came to love that car (once I moved to Nothern VA where there were considerably fewer hills!), but I've been thinking about my mom a lot lately as I drive around LA avoiding left turns like the plague.

There is no doubt about it: LA is a car culture. That might seem like stating the obvious, however being a car culture means more than just caring what kind of car someone drives. Things are designed to be car-friendly. The freeways may be large, but the lanes are wide, the on ramps are long and the exits are close together allowing for easy on and offs. Last night SMS and I drove to Dodger's Stadium and getting in and out of the parking lot was a pleasure. (No, Bonds did not hit a home run, but he did get boo-ed, a lot!) And there are plenty of left turn lanes: they are practically everywhere, but there are very few left turn arrows. This means that I spend my time mapping out routes in my head that will avoid certain intersections, even if it takes me out of my way.

Here is a list, in ascending order, of intersections I like:

1. Intersection where I have to turn left that has a light, but no left turn lane or left turn arrow.
2. Intersection where I have to turn left that has a light, a left turn lane but no left turn arrow.
3. Intersection where I have to turn left that has a light, a left turn lane and a left turn arrow.
4. Intersection where I have to turn right.

Here's the other weird thing about LA, especially if you are from Pittsburgh: In Pittsburgh, if you are the first car at an intersection with a light and you have to turn left, you get to go first. We call it a Pittsburgh Left. As soon as the cross traffic gets a red light, you nose out there, and typically, the car facing you will wave you on ahead of them as you cross through their path. Again, not so much in LA. In LA, cars turn left after the light has changed to red: one car almost always gets through, sometimes two. In time I'm sure I'll get used to it, but right now, as a Pittsburgher at heart, it feels really, really weird.