One thing you quickly discover about America is that the car really is king. Americans do not walk - yes they might go on a power walk at 6.00 am every morning or yes they might walk for half an hour on a treadmill at the gym, but walking somewhere to do something? Walk to school? Walk to the store? It just doesn't happen.
I had insisted on a small car - after all there might be parking issues - stupid idea really as most of Los Angeles has been built since the invention of the car and there are car parks everywhere - individual spaces are at least half a size again bigger than back home. Parking was never going to be an issue. A small car would be more economical - another fallacy - gas is so cheap driving a bus would be economical!
Neil had already bought his car and knew the process was extremely longwinded. We spent three hours in the car showroom completing the necessary paperwork, and came out, ten pages of disclaimers and documentation later, proud owners of a silver Ford Focus (oh didn't I have one of those back home?!). We had offered to sign everything in blood if that helped to speed up the process but unfortunately, American humour doesn't extend to sarcasm, and we were told that wasn't necessary.
So, I now had my car. I could go anywhere. I could go on the freeway.....maybe not.
Driving in America is a whole new ball game - you really do take your life in your hands everytime you get behind a steering wheel. I'd never driven an automatic before - Neil's helpful advice of "it's like driving a dodgem" is pretty accurate - "dodge them" is also a pretty accurate description of driving in LA full stop. Never mind small car, I think an army tank would probably have been the wisest mode of transport.
But I persevered. I read my highway code. I knew the etiquette at a four way stop. I knew I could turn right on a red light and run a couple of pedastrians over who had been told by the walk sign it was safe to cross. I knew I could only drive at 25 miles an hour in a residential area or outside a school - but only when there were children present. I was ready to take the Californian driving test!!
And if I passed my test then I might feel confident enough to take the freeways...maybe not.
So I joined a long queue at the Department of Motor Vehicles, took my test and passed. I could now have official "Californian" ID (I could apply for a store card!!!). However, I do wonder why I even bothered. I don't think half the population of LA has ever passed a driving test - the standard of driving is atrocious. Don't ever expect anyone to ever let you in when you get stuck in the wrong lane and want to get out; don't ever expect anyone to let you out of a junction, or a car park, or to wave you on head, or even indicate before they turn. It just doesn't happen. Do expect traffic to come at you from all sides, undertaking as well as overtaking is perfectly acceptable here; do expect a car to come and fill that safe gap you left between you and the one in front. Do expect the driver behind you to beep their horn impatiently if you don't move forward the minute the traffic signal turns green. Do expect moms on the school run to aggressively compete to park as close to the school gates as possible (they double park on the dual carriageway here rather than let their kids walk the extra 100 yards to school) and do expect to see tiny little girls of 16 driving daddy's brand new SUV into the parking lot.
But don't expect me to the drive on the freeway. I'm not that stupid!
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