Archive: Driving

City Hall is pushing waivers from environmental studies so Musk can bore a 2.7-mile test hole south to Culver City.

Helpful road signs on PCH now help locate you.

The crucial transportation link in Santa Monica reopens today after being closed for more than a year.

The highway in the San Gabriel Mountains lets you drive 66 miles through "some of the most difficult terrain in the U.S."

Lost LA's Nathan Masters curates a look at the urban carnage wrought by construction of the Hollywood Freeway in the 1950s.

All the junkyard cars are gone from U-Pick Parts and Aadlen Brothers Auto Wrecking in Sun Valley, after 53 years serving car owners and Hollywood.

"We don’t know exactly what’s causing it,” a CHP officer said. “Right now, it’s just a weird thing."

AAdlen Brothers Auto Wrecking, an institution in Sun Valley for 53 years, has supplied or been in a lot of movies, TV episodes and music videos.

Interstate 5 is bad, but there are A LOT of trucks trapped in the debris flow that covered Highway 58 last night. Intense video inside.

The Times won't tell you because, one, it doesn't know LA as well as it should and, two, it hypes to attract web eyeballs.

The camel would probably have been in Saturday's Agua Dulce parade and some of the locals are pretty upset.

Mayor Eric Garcetti on Monday signed an executive order ordering departments to report back with ways to reduce traffic deaths in Los Angeles -- to zero.

What better way to educate Angelenos about the shutdown of a major boulevard than a spoof of SNL's The Californians.

LA Times analysis of accident records finds 817 intersections countywide the paper calls the "most dangerous" for pedestrians.

A first-ever experience for me on Pacific Coast Highway, on a Friday, in summer.

The new-to-LA traffic calming tactic is in use at Venice and Robertson boulevards. Check out the instructional video.

A motorcycle rider named Jesse Lopez was cruising with friends on Glendora Ridge Road in the Angeles National Forest when he collided head-on with a fire truck. The GoPro...

The city plans to turn on its old cameras and add new intersections in June, bringing the total in Beverly Hills to 15.

People on the street in DTLA aren't sold yet on the new parking signs, but a writer at CityLab loves them. Here's why.

The color-colded grids are supposed to be simpler and more logical. That doesn't mean that people like them.

Driving in LA is an art that requires intuition, patience and a sense of the topography, Meghan Daum writes.

In good weather the region has about 10 reported crashes an hour, peaking in the morning. On rainy days, the rate soars to 15 an hour and is worst in the afternoon. Go figure.

Is protesting on the freeway "historically appropriate," as the professor argues, or "insanity," as then-LAPD chief Bill Bratton quipped. Here's the argument.

The New Yorker takes a serious look at the future of Los Angeles taxicabs through the eyes of Eric Spiegelman, the president of Mayor Garcetti's taxi commission, and a believer that taxis can move into the app era.

The mother road that brought so many families to new lives in California -- and introduced so many young Americans to their country -- gets an entertaining treatment at the Autry. Treasures on display include Jack Kerouac's manuscript for "On the Road," an entire Corvette and the Getty's print of "Migrant mother" by Dorothea Lange.

A takeout by the Desert Sun in Palm Springs finds that since 2007, 33 Marines have died in crashes on roads near the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms. The death toll is higher than that incurred by Twentynine Palms Marines in the Middle East, the paper says.

We do it for President Obama's visits, so take note: Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is coming to town this afternoon. Traffic jams will ensue thanks to closures.

Just when it seems from consuming any media that LA has abandoned its automobile ways — but in actuality hasn't — Los Angeles Magazine decides to zig where the others zag.

Edwin C. Krupp, the longtime director of Griffith Observatory, bought his 1968 Chevrolet Camaro new when he was a grad student. It's got 479,000 miles and no power steering or brakes. ABC7's Dave Kunz checks it out.

Former LA Times reporter Hilary MacGregor describes quite amusingly the battle between her neighbors on Las Palmas Avenue in the Whitley Heights section of Hollywood, and the drivers who want to park there.

Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig will still have to pay a speeding ticket for pushing his Mercedes to 110 miles an hour in a 70 mph zone in Alligator Alley.

The stats cover Dec. 13 to midnight on January 1 and include arrests by 100 different law enforcement agencies.

Dodgers outfield sensation Yasiel Puig has picked up the second reckless driving arrest in his short U.S. driving career. This time he was in Florida — he got the Mercedes up to 110 miles an hour, according to police.

The rebuilt Mulholland Drive bridge opened this morning across the 405 freeway in Sepulveda Pass.

People who live near an Expo Line station "dramatically reduced the number of miles they drove and tripled their rail ridership" after the new light-rail line opened last year, says a new USC study out today.

A dark or silver Mercedes-Benz struck an LAPD officer and his motorcycle on Pacific Coast Highway at Sunset a little before 8 p.m. tonight. The officer was taken to UCLA with non-life threatening injuries.

After starting the day in Seattle and San Francisco, President Obama is scheduled to arrive at LAX this afternoon just about the time the peak traffic hits the streets. Here's what we know about how to reduce your risk of Obamajam.

When the eastbound Wilshire Boulevard onramp to the northbound 405 opens, the transformation will be essentially complete at one of the city's most painful traffic choke points. The ramp project is done 13 days early.

The Westside is starting to slowly wake up from its long traffic nightmare around the 405 freeway construction, known officially as the I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project.

The Legislature's flurry of last-minute approvals includes measures to raise the California minimum wage to $10 an hour, let undocumented immigrants obtain a legal driver's license and allow immigrant lawyers to practice law.

Cal Worthington might arguably have been the most recognized Southern California car dealer from his decades on television pitching his Worthington Ford dealership. Worthington "and his dog Spot" —which could have been an elephant or tiger or hippo — sold cars here starting in 1950 in Huntington Park.

Van Dyke was driving east on the Ventura Freeway in Calabasas today when his Jaguar started smoking. The 87-year-old pulled over and needed some help getting out before the car burst into flames. He and his wife followed with tweets.

All of the streets that the LAPD is warning drivers to avoid during President Obama's brief visit to the area today and Wednesday are out in the Valley. Obama lands...

There are a few new details now about President Obama's trip to the Los Angeles area on Tuesday to appear on the Jay Leno show. Here's what we know.

Police said they have arrested Nathan Campbell, 38, on suspicion of murder for Saturday afternoon's horrific incident on the crowded Venice Beach boardwalk. One woman died and 11 other people were hurt.

Just when you thought the endless 405 freeway upgrade project was becoming manageable and some of the quote unquote upgrades were opening for use, the freeway gods play a little joke.

Caltrans officials were able to open two northbound lanes of I-5 at the interchange with the 2 freeway in Elysian Valley in time for today's afternoon commute. The rest of I-5 may open Tuesday, but the tunnel beneath connecting the northbound 2 to the northbound I-5 is closed indefinitely.

The northbound Interstate 5 freeway near Dodger Stadium, and half the southbound lanes plus the connectors to the 2 Freeway, will likely be closed for Monday's morning commute. That's because of possible structural damage to the freeway by Saturday's fire from a gasoline tanker crash.

The Atlantic Cities observed last week that it was remarkable Los Angeles is thinking of narrowing Broadway's busy stretch downtown to three lanes as part of a plan to make the street more pedestrian friendly.

The 47-year-old woman died after a speeding tow truck slammed into her bus at Broadway and 5th Street. There were no passengers aboard.

As I mentioned earlier, the Obamajam potential for Friday's short visit by President Obama is not bad. He's coming in mid-morning and leaving early afternoon so the driving disruption should be localized. But it's still Santa Monica in tourist season, so traffic could be a challenge.

BuzzFeed listicle gets it right about Los Angeles driving and parking. The reality is even more scary.

While the 405 widening project slogs along late and over budget, one nugget of good news if you drive that stretch of freeway. As of Friday, a northbound lane will open for 1.7 miles between the 10 Freeway and Santa Monica Boulevard.

CBS 2 sifts the data for the most notorious places for LAPD traffic cops to nab speeders, while Joel Grover and NBC 4 turn their hidden cameras back on Jiffy Lube. May is always a busy month for local TV's investigative teams.

Beverly Hills police are asking for help in identifying the driver of this car who appears to deliberately pin a bicyclist against a trash dumpster in an alley off Wilshire Boulevard.

Gold didn't get to buy the Dodgers last year, which means he's free next month to drive one of his Porsche's 12,000 kilometers from Beijing to Paris. Much of the race is off road: think of the Gobi Desert in Mongolia.

Jason Torchinsky, now 41, bought his 1973 Volkswagen Beetle when he was 18. So it kind of sucked when the car was stolen last week.

That extra traffic in Laurel Canyon this evening was due to an accident involving an LAPD motorcycle officer. The unidentified officer was on his way to investigate a previous accident when a driver stuck in traffic made an abrupt turn in front of the officer's bike. He's at a hospital but going to be OK.

For a month starting on March 23, the main canyon road connecting the Valley with Beverly Hills will be closed during the day. Coldwater Canyon Avenue needs to be dug up to replace the main water line installed during the William Mulholland era with a new trunk line.

From 1909 until 1919, a big winter road race was held in Santa Monica that attracted top drivers and thousands of spectators. Former Huell Howser producer Harry Pallenberg is posting a series of video documentaries on SoCal's racing history, and right now his website features the Wilshire Boulevard races.

Metro, the agency in charge of the massive 405 freeway upgrade and widening project, announced that the weekend work was completed 29 hours early. It went to so well that no full shutdown of the northbound freeway was required, as originally threatened.

The 405 freeway widening and upgrade project on the Westside and in Sepulveda Pass is about a year behind schedule. But if you haven't been through there in awhile, you might be surprised at the visuals. The skyline at the Wilshire Boulevard interchange is starting to look very different.

The Westfield mall at Century City is dropping out of the ranks of Los Angeles malls that let you park free for at least a couple of hours. Starting Feb. 1, it's going to cost a dollar an hour — up to three hours. After that, it's a dollar for every fifteen minutes.

In the rest of the United States, the best selling new vehicle is the Ford F-series pickup truck. In California the Prius has surpassed the Honda Civic to be number one.

If you don't get a $234 LAPD ticket this year for turning right at 7th Street and Broadway, you could have D.J. Prator to thank. He lives near the corner and noticed that LAPD traffic officers were always writing tickets there. Thus began a little crusade. Story on 'SoCal Connected.'

It will remain a ticketing offense to park at a broken meter in LA. But for the first time, valet parkers have to be licensed and insured.

How's that 110 freeway HOV lane working out for you? A lot of people are flouting the transponder rule, it seems.

This Saturday, the HOV lanes on the Harbor Freeway south of downtown convert to HOT lanes — meaning if you are a solo driver, you can pay to drive with the carpools. That may not be so controversial, but it means that everyone who drives in the 110 lanes, carpoolers included, have to pay $40 plus $3 a month for a FasTrak transponder.

You might remember the motorcycle column and videos that Sue Carpenter did for the Los Angeles Times. She's heading to the Register, according to a newsroom memo this morning.

Cindy Whitehead, a former pro skateboarder from Hermosa Beach, had the phone numbers of a bail bondsman, a lawyer and a friend written on her arm — just in case.

Removal of the north side of the original Mulholland Drive bridge over the 405 freeway has gone about as well as expected. Mayor Villarigosa and Metro officials said Sunday evening that the lanes through Sepulveda Pass will open as promised by 5 a.m. on Monday.

Traffic has been a bit heavier than usual for a Saturday in a few spots, especially near the immediate detours around the closed 405 freeway. But for the most part,...

"Harper" starring Paul Newman aired tonight on Turner Classic Movies. Here's a screen grab circa-1966 of the Mulholland Drive bridge in Sepulveda Pass, spanning what was then called by everybody the San Diego Freeway.

If things go right, there will be fewer media choppers hovering pointlessly above the ends of the closed 405 freeway during this weekend's traffic event. Or non-event, whatever.

By the time Metro decided to schedule the 405 freeway shutdown for this weekend, the Herbalife Triathlon Los Angeles was already on the calendar for Sunday. So there will be closed streets and a lot of people in town.

No, Carmageddon II is still coming this weekend. But the people behind Carmageddon had a ceremony out along the 405 freeway this morning to reopen the rebuilt Sunset Boulevard bridge.

City News Service is reporting that a 69-year-old driver was killed early this morning when his car hit a horse at Palos Verdes Drive North and Crenshaw Boulevard in Rolling Hills Estates.

The five-ton Mercedes Unimog U1300 isn't usually street legal in California, says Yahoo Autos. But Arnold Schwarzenegger has the money to customize and as the ex-governor he may know how to get his way with the regulations.

Preston Carter's car backed into a crowd near Main Street Elementary, hitting at least nine children and two adults. He has a clean DMV record — but has to wear glasses while driving.

I can just imagine the tragic news rippling through the day across several communities. Awful.

LA police confirmed that last night's crash in Valley Village is being investigated as a reckless driving case. Witnesses said they believed two cars were speeding along Magnolia Boulevard at Ben Avenue when the crash occurred. Two women who rushed to help the driver of the car that sheared off a fire hyrdrant were electrocuted, and at least six other people who tried to help were treated for electric shocks.

Finding out what's happening on the freeway before you hit the road may have just gotten a bit easier — or at least more accurate. Caltrans has relaunched its QuickMap that lets you see what the observation cameras are seeing on any freeway in California — or read any changeable message sign.

For more than five years, Sacramento's CBS TV affiliate has been investigating reports by drivers in Northern California who get parking tickets from the city of Los Angeles when they swear they weren’t there. The latest case involves a Sacramento area man who says his new car has never been in LA.

Starting sooner than expected, the condition of the roadway on Wilshire Boulevard may no longer be LA's own inside joke. Repaving of the curb lanes between Wilton Place and Fairfax Avenue will begin this month, says a report.

Since 1983, the percentage of Americans with drivers licenses has fallen for every age group under 40 (the magazine says 50, but the difference looks minor over 40.) The study authors say Internet use probably explains the declining interest in driving.

Metro has decided when to drop the other shoe on the necessary weekend closure of the entire 405 Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass. The follow-up to last summer's disruptive but successful closure will begin about 7 p.m. on Friday, September 28. The freeway will be scheduled to reopen at 5 a.m. on Monday, October 1

Fun story in the LA Times: an analysis of 75,000 computerized traffic citations found the street name "mangled beyond all but the most hopeful inference about 20% of the time....The only thing we can say with 90% certainty about data like this is 'Argh!'"

Two men surrendered last night in the videotaped beating of a motorist on Interstate 5 near Boyle Heights — that's the video saved from vanishing from sight by an Irish computer geek. Here's the other twist. The motorist who was left sprawled out on the pavement while two goons kicked him in the head was himself arrested today.

The video showing the assault on a Los Angeles freeway driver near downtown only got in the hands of authorities — and seen by you — because of an unemployed croupier and casino dealer across the Atlantic — and an alert food writer at the LA Weekly.

Santa Monica is the largest city in the U.S. to convert to parking meters that reset to zero when a car leaves, the New York Times says in a story. Santa Monica officials insist it's not about the money, but UCLA's parking reform expert says of course it's about the money.

Both LA basketball teams are on the brink of elimination, but Staples Center is warning of major traffic and parking issues around Sunday's noon-start Kings game.

Mayor Villaraigosa's budget calls for adding 50 more part-time parking officers to walk foot beats in crowded areas such as Downtown, Hollywood and North Hollywood. There already were 100 of these part-timers hired last year. It's all about bringing in more fines.

in June, the rebuilding of the Wilshire Boulevard on- and off-ramps will begin a year-long traffic disruption in one of the nation's congested spots that will be so majorly disruptive it's being called The Rampture. We've been warning you this was coming. In case you were hoping it would just go away, it didn't.

If I were a betting man, or a Valley commuter hoping to avoid tonight's presidential motorcade traffic snarl, I would avoid the route between Bob Hope Airport in Burbank and Studio City as the clock approaches 7 p.m.

Memorial Day will be extra special in the city of West Hollywood. The city that almost makes sport of ticketing parking violators will go easy on some of its citizens for the holiday.

The city bills the new parking meters as smarter and cooler. For drivers, though, they foretell some expensive lessons in how you can't cheat technology. Get ready for more tickets.

Parking fines in Los Angeles are already way disproportionate to the crime, but in his desperation to balance his budget Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is planning to ask for the sixth increase in his time in office. Is it a policy move because parking violations are becoming some kind of civic nuisance? Uh, no. It's about money — and parking after the street sweeper comes could cost you a day's pay.

She was leaving the museum when struck by a black BMW with no plates that did not stop. Friends say the woman faces months of recovery.