On Traffic in New Orleans

I have lived in New Orleans for a little over six months.  During that time, I have witnessed more disregard for traffic laws, common courtesies and (what I would call) common sense on the road than I have seen in my entire life.  I have a little bit of a strong will when it comes to following what I know to be the traffic laws, and get a little fired up when they are blatantly ignored.  It is a combination of drivers in the city AND the set up of roads, lights, right-of-ways, police interaction with motorists, weather, etc.

This week I will attempt to capture everything I am talking about.  I will carry a video camera with me whenever I am driving, mounted to my dash, so hopefully I will be able to relay some examples.  And maybe if you sympathize, you will find this entertaining and slightly enlightening.  Or you can show it to your friend who is a bad driver, because you and I are both good drivers, obviously.

A few actions, that make me most angry, are of varying degrees dangerous,  and defy traffic laws, are listed below.  I have no doubt I will be able to relay some of these specific instances to you throughout the week on video.

Running red lights

When a traffic light turns green for a driver here, it does not mean go.  No. More so it implies, look left and look right to make sure no one is going to run their correlating red light and smash your car to smithereens attempting to cut one minute out of their commute.

Bridge speeding

When a driver proceeds onto one of the many bridges over the freeway or a canal (and I'm talking about residential bridges not freeway ones) it apparently gives one the license to drive upwards of 55mph- I've seen 65, and the speed limit is 35 max in the city on residential streets. 

Turn signals

Wouldn't it be great if there was some way to tell other motorists when one wanted change lanes or turn left or right.  Oh wait. There is. Turn signals!

For whatever reason, more drivers here than anywhere else I've lived completely disregard the common courtesy of using their turn signals.  Braking outrageously and expecting whoever is behind them not to run into them.

Merging

To my knowledge, on-ramps have been created to allow a driver to pick up speed until they reach the speed limit on the freeway and then safely merge with other motorists already going said same speed.  I can not begin to relay the number of drivers who I've gotten on the on-ramp behind who are barely hitting 35mph when they are supposed to merge into traffic.  This results in them stopping at the end of the on-ramp which can hardly be dubbed a successful merge.

Driving below 30mph on the highway

It is not unheard of to approach a vehicle driving 25mph on the freeway.  This infuriates me- it is dangerous, especially if the driver does not have their hazard lights on, which more than likely they do not.  If one can't get their vehicle to the minimum speed posted for the freeway, for the love of safety, please do not drive on it- I'm guessing you failed the merging test too.

Cars pushing other cars

Never had I seen a car literally pushing another car until I move here.  And ladies and gentlemen, I've seen it more than once.  Bumper to bumper one car pushing another down the freeway, passing an exit ramp, and continuing to their destination.  Enough said.

Not-road-ready vehicles on the road

I find it hard to believe that one can even drive a car with a front tire at a 45 degree angle, but I've seen it.  Or cars that can not accelerate to necessary speed limits.  The list goes on.
The state of Louisiana requires cars to have an inspection before they obtain/renew their brake tags.  For the cost of $25, a private business performs certain functionality tests of your car.  (I plan to obtain the list of checkpoints and will post them). 

disclaimer: I realize many of these failures probably happened after road inspections, but I'm not sure how a I feel about a fee for brake tags when all it is is a one-time inspection (and an economic boost for the city.)

Cars falling off tow trucks

This occurrence brings new meaning to peoples sometimes-dubbed 'irrational' fear of driving behind car-carrying semi-trucks.  I have seen multiple cars just "roll off" tow trucks on residential streets and into traffic.  Based on the fact that I have never witnessed this before, it either has to be the tow truck drivers fault, or faulty equipment.  Whatever the case, that vehicle should not be in operation.

Now that I have spilled my traffic complaints I hope this project will be of some use to public good.  

disclaimer:  Even though I have presented highly opinionated writing, I will strive to be objective when it comes right down to the laws. I will present my findings through the eyes of a driver in New Orleans.