| If there is one trait that Los Angeles, CA | | | | To sound a negative note, Los Angeles is well |
| has become famous for, it's the city's | | | | known for its longstanding under-funding of |
| unrequited love affair with its automobiles. | | | | road upkeep, no doubt partly due to the |
| The city has more than 25 winding freeways, | | | | city's huge total area. This causes a |
| which take care of commuters, automotive and | | | | humongous number of potholes, leading to high |
| otherwise, on a daily basis. Not | | | | vehicle maintenance costs for local denizens. |
| surprisingly, Los Angeles remains the most | | | | Extreme angst over potholes was a major |
| automobile-populated metro area in the entire | | | | factor in the attempted 2002 secession of the |
| world, with one registered car for every one | | | | San Fernando Valley county. |
| and a half persons. | | | | |
| | | | With so much traffic, certain portions of Los |
| SoCal's freeways, along with the area's | | | | Angeles' roads are hopelessly gridlocked at |
| beaches, palm trees, and movie studios are | | | | rush hour. Unfortunately, collector streets |
| all major trademarks of the West Coast | | | | and local roads are usually all equally |
| region. As previously noted, it is unlikely | | | | jammed, so there are no available detours. |
| that any other city in the world has taken to | | | | |
| the automobile as fully as Los Angeles. The | | | | To no one's surprise, with so many |
| extensive freeway system is dispersed | | | | automobiles on the road, red light running is |
| throughout the still quickly growing area, | | | | common. To deal with this, mounted cameras |
| connecting urban centers with both suburbs | | | | have been procured for many problem |
| and exurbs. | | | | intersections. The cameras activate when an |
| | | | automobile runs a red light and then without |
| Taking things a step further, the Art Center | | | | ceremony sends a ticket to the person's |
| College of Design has assisted in making | | | | registered address. No systems is perfect, |
| Southern California a hotbed for car design. | | | | however, and there was a huge fuss raised |
| Automakers such as Honda, BMW, Toyota, Ford, | | | | when it was ascertained that specific |
| VW, Hyundai, and GM all have design studios | | | | intersections with cameras did more to |
| in the area. | | | | generate revenue in fines than to help with |
| | | | public safety. |