Getting2Work

Got back to regular routine started yesterday. Monday’s drive was very easy. No problem on the way down (usually no problem in such early hour - 5 am) and no problem on the way home either. But then it was Monday. And Monday traffic is usually the best.

Tuesday is usually not bad either. But this morning there were quite a few maniacs on the road. Three times I had to break or slow down because some car/truck had to speed up on my right side (no, I was not driving in lane one) and cut in front of me or hit the car on his/her lane. Good thing I do pay attention while I drive so I could see and hear them zoom up. Knowing that between the choice of breaking hard to avoid rear ending the car in his own lane or cut in front of me, I know they always choose to cut in into my lane. I am not a mean driver either (remember the objective of being on the road - get to my destination without causing an accident or being in one) so I always let them in. Well, got to work in the usual time, so no big!

I had a mid-afternoon meeting and there were a few unpleasant surprises but it still ended around 4pm. So I wrapped things up and signed out right after the meeting. On my way out one of my team mates caught up with me and needed to talk. He wasn’t leaving yet, so he walked me out to my car while we talked. I totally understand his need to talk because a lot of the unpleasant surprises was directed to him as if it was his fault. It wasn’t! Anyway, I finally got on the road and it was traffic was moving ok. Then hit the usual slow down by the LAX airport but still inching along. As I go through the Sepulveda Pass, I make my move to the right lane right before we get to the down hill transition to the 101 freeway. There were a line of cars driving kind of close together that I wasn’t able to get over to the furthest right lane. I stayed in lane 5 as we crest and saw nothing but red tail lights. Not a good sign! Then I looked up and saw three helicopters above. Definitely not a good sign! Thought we were going slow by the airport, we were crwaling. Fire and paramedic trucks passed by the packed cars on the right shoulder. Luckily there is shoulder on this stretch of road. I couldn’t see what was ahead and didn’t know how far ahead the accident was. Finally saw the police and the flares. 4 right lanes were blocked off and I was on the 3rd lane from the right. So along with all the cars to my right I had to move one lane over. I was trying to merge carefully, so all I could see was a motorcycle down. The rest was blocked by some toll truck. I hate seeing motorcycles down because they had no protection. I reminded myself not to rubber neck and pay attention to traffic. As soon as the road is freed up, people goes crazy trying to catch up with loss time or something.
Since I didn’t see how bad the accident was, I logged on and hit Sigalert.com … The following was posted at the Sigalert site.

Mc in Lanes-Fell Under Truck 5:33 PM
Message/Item Delivered to LA Fire Department 5:34 PM
4 Vehicles to Right Shoulder 5:37 PM
Off Duty LASO On Scene, not Involved D, But Advise G Possible Fatality 5:43 PM
404-1, 2, 3, 4 Lanes Blocked Per 404 5:43 PM
North 405 Just South of Ventura Believes Possible Fatality Per Fsp} 5:43 PM
Sigalert Issued on the Blue 5:48 PM
404-1, 2, 3, 4 Lanes Blocked for Unknown Duration-Please Issue Sigalert

I am so glad I was being patient and didn’t swear under my breath about some idiot holding up the traffic. “Possible Fatality” … what’s an extra 45 minutes of being in traffic.