Friday, April 5, 2019

Only in L.A

I live in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles, California, is one of the best known  cities in the world, one of the most recognized worldwide for many different reasons...the movies, the movie stars, the weather, the beaches, the glamour, earthquakes...etc.

There's a lot of things I like about Los Angeles, Number one would be the weather, much like the Mediterranean weather of my home town, Barcelona. Mild Winter, beautiful Spring, beachy Summer (a bit too hot sometimes), cool Fall. My favorite season now is Spring.  I like the casual live style, I like the proximity to many beautiful beaches.

I don't like that there's too many people, I won't talk about politics , suffice to say I dislike the majority of politicians in LA from the Mayor on down. And of course I don't like earthquakes.

But I want to talk about something the can only happen in LA:
POLICE SPEED CAR CHASES
Of course I know there are car chases all over the US and abroad, but not  in the same frequency as here. And most of them are televised live. In Facebook, chanel 7 among others broadcast the chases which are viewed all over the world, they have thousands of viewers in FB alone.

I have to admit is somewhat entertaining at times, but unfortunately some of them result on injuries to innocent motorists and or bystanders. There's overhead police and news helicopters in HD giving close ups of the chases, the cars pursued are generally stolen cars, or  DUI drivers, or driving erratically ,etc. and 99% of the time they are apprehended after chases that may last a couple of hours or more. Usually  they have a couple car chases a week. One time one of the car chases went by La Mirada Blvd from Imperial to Rosecrans, ending in Bellflower.

Today I think LA had a record of not 1, or 2 but 5 high speed chases both during the day and the night time. In one of them there was a crash and an innocent woman's car was hit broadside by the pick up truck the police was chasing. She's in the hospital critical but stable. The driver of the truck had some minor injuries and was arrested.

Those people that are chased by the police, after they are arrested, and if there have not been injuries to pedestrians or other cars, usually only get a night in jail and a $1000.00 fine thanks to the very liberal laws in Los Angeles. I think that won't discourage them or others from continuing this type of  behavior. The penalties should be much more severe to discourage this kind of behavior.