Driving in the rain

Garrison Frost at The Aesthetic thinks that, contrary to popular lore, we are pretty good behind the wheel when the pavement is wet.

As we know, when something is repeated often enough, it becomes a universal assumption. And so, L.A. drivers have a reputation for becoming idiots at the first cloudburst of fall, and pretty much staying that way until the end of spring.

But this is one generalization to which I take personal exception, and not just because it is unsupported by data. In fact, I would argue that people in L.A. are particularly good at driving in the rain, and I have to only look to common sense for support.

Sure, people who live in cities that get more rain might be more used to driving in it, but no one flat-out drives more than people from Los Angeles, and that's got to count for something. Don't tell me that the woman who commutes three hours each day from the Valley to downtown hasn't learned a thing or two along the way. We're in our cars constantly, and when we're on the road, we're surrounded by other cars.

Really, rain is the least of our worries. We've got fire, earthquakes, mudslides and small arms fire all handled. The Long Beach Freeway 710 on a sunny day is trickier than any downpour, and we deal with it.

He also remarks that the USS Bunker Hill, a Navy cruiser based in San Diego, was parked off Hermosa Beach this weekend: "It's quite a trip to go down to the water and see one of these things sitting offshore, especially if you aren't expecting it."