Those of you who rarely use your cell phones while driving need not take too much notice of the following announcement (oh, and p.s.? Thanks for being better than other people). For those of you, however, who insist on multi-tasking throughout your driving experience, watch out: that phone call you're making while wending your way down the 101 might just get you pulled over and fined, fined, fined. The CHP just released a press......

You may or may not be aware of a new state law that went into effect on January 1, 2008. We were reminded of this a couple days ago, driving west on Santa Monica Blvd. in Beverly Hills. Effective Jan 2008 / No smoking allowed / Inside a vehicle / When a Minor is with youThis is important and effective legislation because -- why?!? It is often laughable how the term "liberal" applies to......

The following photos of this unique week in Southern California weather were handpicked from your contributions to the LAist Flickr Photo Pool and elsewhere with permission or via Creative Commons license. Keep 'em comin'! Contribute to LAist by joining our Flickr Pool or send photos directly to zach@laist.com From the 20th floor of the Sunset Media Tower aka 'The House of Blues Building,' 6255 W. Sunset Blvd. by Michael J. Lambie. Daily rain records set......

Sometimes it seems like this city is out to beat us up, put us down, and lead us terribly astray. Even those of us who have lived here for years can't help but feel let down sometimes by L.A.'s impersonal and often contradictory nature. And we're just talking about transportation. But more often than you might expect, if you just open up and let the city happen to you, you'll find that L.A. is......

According to a new study by David Strayer, a psychology professor at the University of Utah, talking on a cell phone while driving can make a person drive up to 2mph slower that other drivers, the LA Daily News reports. "The distracted driver tends to drive slower and have delayed reactions," said Strayer, whose earlier studies have resulted in the well-known findings that cell phone talkers react more slowly on the road than drink drivers.......

Driving under the speed limit can cause you to fail your drivers test. From the Top 10 Reasons for Failing the Driving Test In October, the California DMV took a step out of the 1970s and into the current generation. Okay, so they have had online reservations for awhile now so you can avoid waiting in line. And now you can avoid some reading by watching the 55 videos they uploaded on YouTube. The......

How does something like this happen? It happens when a sober person accidentally crashes into a drunk person."[Actor Gary Collins] was not at fault in the accident," [Officer] Harding said. "The other motorist failed to yield to oncoming traffic and collided with Collins' vehicle." The actor's sports utility vehicle subsequently crashed into two parked cars, Harding said. "Officers smelled alcohol on his breath and initiated a field sobriety test, which he failed," she said. Collins......

We've shown you Kayaks in the LA River, we've shown you an extensive photo collection from the LA River, and we've shown you SUVs driving through the LA River. Apparently, people are catching on as evident in this video.......

Accidents that happen on I-5 may be the absolute worst thing in the world....

I am a polite, mild-mannered person. Laid-back would be a good L.A. way of saying it - I say duuude a lot, about as much as I say "please" and "thank you". I hold doors open for people. I am kind to the elderly, even those who try to strike up conversations with me in elevators, despite my extraordinary claustrophobia. The peccadilloes and perversities of human nature that draw other, less mellow people to......

Say what you will about traffic in LA, people driving while texting, and tailgaters boiling over with road rage, but according to AutoVantage, a Connecticut-based auto club, similar to AAA, Miami is home to more road-ragers than LA, so take that Florida. For the second year in a row Miami has claimed the dubious crown of having the meanest, worst, angriest, and dumbest commuters who run red lights, talk on their phones, and slam......

Brentwood: You would think that street barricades and cones blocking an intersection mean that it is closed. Rather, many people just see this as an obstacle. If there happens to be a tight space to fit through, surely, the city must have done so for cars to pass through. Sherman Oaks: Probably not a good idea to dangerously and rudely cut someone off in a parking lot full of LAPD officers. Even a worse......

This fact is not from our archives, rather LA Observed's. But this old fact that Kevin announced more than three years ago, is still new and useful to many. Recent arrivals to L.A. might like to know this useful mnemonic for figuring out what side of the street a building is on: SeE NoW The even numbers are almost always on the South and East sides; the odd numbers are almost always on the......