Water is Falling from the Sky in San Diego

[Jack_Dawson]

STORMWATCH 2004 - The city has basically shut down. Average commute time: 3 hours. SoCals CANNOT deal with the elements. It is pathetic and embarrassing.

[Webster Green]

1. Rain in San Diego?

Thats weird!

[Jack_Dawson]

3. Tell us about it - we don't know what's happening.

We've seen rain in the movies and stuff, but to look up and see gray skies and water falling from them, well...people are starting to panic.

[Bertha Venation]

2. Neither can D.C. commuters. In fact

I daresay D.C. commuters are worse. Worse in inclement weather or good. Worse in all aspects -- tailgaiting, aggressive driving, causing gridlock, running red lights, failing to yield to pedestrians, failing to yield proper right-of-way, etc. -- than Southern California drivers. (I'm a native of So. Cal., drove there for 21 years before moving to the D.C. area.)

edit: not 18 years, 21 -- 16-37. Jesus. I'm getting old.

[Jack_Dawson]

4. DC drivers HAVE to be better than SoCal drivers

I mean, it rains there, it snows there...I think even a hurricane blew through there last summer, right? Point is, you guys get a lot of "practice" with inclement weather. If it's not 75 degrees and sunny, we freeze up.

[mobuto]

5. Don't be so sure

You haven't lived until you've played bumper cars on the Beltway.

[Bertha Venation]

6. ROFL No way!

You've never commuted out here, have you, Jack? I'm happy for that, but if you had, you'd understand. :)

I mean what I say. It doesn't matter that we get more "inclement weather practice." You think So Calis can't drive in rain? You should see this eclectic bunch (license plates from all 50, and Guam etc., then throw in all the diplomats, jesus god . . . .) when it sprinkles. Or gets a little icy. Or half an inch of snow falls.

I know how bad it is back home. But honestly. Bad weather or not, the L.A. freeways don't hold a candle to the Beltway, and traffic in downtown L.A., compared to traffic in the core of D.C., flows like a placid stream.

[Jack_Dawson]

7. Wow...color me learned

I had no idea. When you talk about the diplomats though now I'm beginning to see the problem...

[Bertha Venation]

9. forgot to answer your question about the hurricane

Yes, Hurricane Isabel came through last year. No problem re: the traffic, though: they shut the city down for a day.

[Shakespeare]

10. Nah....apples & oranges

I've lived in both places (moved from DC to LA, where I currently live). DC'ans can handle the weather--hell, they even drive okay in snow, but they are a tad aggressive. SoCal people, on the other hand, redefine the concept of "freaked out" if there's anything but sunshine. Here's what I've observed:

DC drivers: Do okay in weather, but live faithfully by their General Driving Motto of "Die Before Yielding."

LA drivers: Completely freak when water meets road, and respond in one of two ways: either drive very, very slowly as to be uber-cautious, or drive like bats out of hell, presumably to try and outrun the raindrops. No middle of the road (pun intended) at all.

[donsu]

8. try driving in Miami - there is so much junk on the roads coming thru

car windows and the actual metal of the cars coupled with a zillion cars all speeding - what a rush. (junk on the roads has been a problem for years)