Three freeways, a fire...and YOU in rush hour.
Wow, traffic is bad. Ever experience that in Los Angeles? Here in LA, we experience this daily, but sometimes traffic is really bad due to an incident. Are you prepared? Some incidents are in response to chemical, fire or fatality. In the recent years, I’ve made an effort to know every side street to my normal routes that will get me either to work or home via a non-freeway route. Trial and error was a huge part of the experience.
A few years back, I was going North on the 405 Freeway when traffic came to a halt. All eight lanes. Ten minutes stretched into 20 minutes. By then, the reports were coming in on social media and the radio about a brush fire. This particular fire stretched over three major freeway systems….all going north. 25 minutes was approaching the one hour mark. This was summer, so the temperatures were already in the high 90’s across the Los Angeles metro area. After an hour, I noticed the temperature gauge on my car creeping quickly past the 100 degree mark…and going higher. It was the afternoon rush hour, so people were on the road for a variety of reasons: pick up the kids, meet friends for dinner, and let the dog out for a bio break….whatever the reason people needed to get to their destinations. Stress is setting in around me, I can see people gesturing while on their phones, and some were even rolling down their windows in hopes of conserving on gas. It was hot and getting hotter.
Some were desperate enough to start working their way to exits, however, ambulances and fire personnel were starting to come up ramps heading to the incident. It was getting really chaotic with the eight lanes going north. People were getting out of cars, to try and see ahead. Two hours have now gone by.
During this time, I made the calls needed. In my back seat there is water and the glove box has some nuts in it, and my trunk has one week of supplies & gear just in case. Some cars ended up running out of gas and dying on the freeway. In the hundred-plus swelter. Can you imagine?
What does all this mean for you? How would you personally be impacted if caught up in a 4-5 hour traffic delay? Or, longer?
Are you prepared? If you have kids or are a guardian for someone, do you have a backup plan for when you can’t get home at the normal time? Same for your pets, do you have someone that can assist if you can’t be there in 4, 6, 12, 48 hours? Make a plan!
How about the gas gauge on your car? There’s an old saying, if your tank is half full its empty? Seeing cars run out of gas and therefore air conditioning in extreme heat conditions is scary and dangerous. It not only puts the lives of the occupants in jeopardy but will add to the delay of the car crush when the road opens up further delaying those miles back.
Is your car prepared? Water within reach, snacks within reach. Your car is full on gas. You have supplies in the event the incident is catastrophic? An earthquake happened and you’re on your own in the middle of eight lanes for 24 or 48 hours. You may end up having to walk to a safe place, are you prepared? For your convenience on preparing YOUR car and those of your friends and family, use the following list! If you travel with people on a regular basis, prepare for them or require them to bring a go-bag each time.
