Is DL area safe

[Living42Day]

I've realized just driving around that sometimes it feels like you need to go 85-95mph if you get into a "speed pocket" as I call them where it feels like everyone is going that speed, but if you let the speeders pass, you generally will find most cars traveling at or very close to the speed limit. As a younger, inexperienced driver I thought I had to keep up with that flow of traffic, but learning to drop back has been a gamechanger since I have a two hour commute everyday. Much more relaxing and way less stressful.

 

[Living42Day]

I am a little taken aback by some that have had such scary experiences. As a single female in my 20s, I have had no problem walking back to my hotel into the late evening hours. There are people experiencing homelessness in the area, but they are not scary to me. Yeah, one might be lying on the sidewalk but they're not going to attack you (at least based on my experiences and lack of any significant interaction with them over the years). I guess we've been lucky in all of our trips to never have any kind of experience outside of the street vendors trying to sell you something.

 

[foolish_mortals]

It only takes one interaction to become more wary. We had one incident on S Harbor walking from Candy Cane Inn to Disneyland at about 3pm or so. A man started shouting obscenities at me and my partner and started following us down the street to Disneyland. We picked up the pace and ignored him but he kept it up until we reached the crosswalk at Disney Way.

I’m still not afraid of homeless individuals and neither is my partner. It was a one time thing in the many years we had walked there. He’s just more anxious and in a heightened state of awareness when he encounters homeless individuals and now refuses to walk along S Harbor. We either stay on property or drive. One very bad interaction is all it took and he does everything he can to avoid the possibility of a being in a similar situation.

In summary, take the same precautions as you would walking any busy city street. It’s not a bubble so you need to be alert about what is going on around you. YMMV. You’ll hear stories of nothing happening and stories of uncomfortable and scary situations. Odds are nothing will happen and it will be a pleasant walk but no one can guarantee that nothing will happen.

 

[godfather927]

The City of Anaheim has a crime mapping log for those who are interested.

Interesting site. Looking at the data from the past 6 months, it seems like the intersection of Katella and Harbor is certainly a hot spot, or at least it is compared to Katella and Disneyland Dr, but there's also quite a few reports in or around the area of Paradise Pier hotel too.

 

[kristensideaoffun]

How can I drive any faster without breaking the law? The contempt for law enforcement has gotten out of hand. Just trying to do my part.

Then you should drive in the slow lane. The far left lanes are for faster moving vehicles. Every time you enter the fast lane or HOV lane and go 65mph, you are creating a dangerous situation for both yourself and all of the other vehicles around you. By doing this in the HOV lane, you are forcing the cars behind you to merge into the fast lane which is likely moving 15mph+ faster than they are moving to exit the HOV lane. You aren’t going to change the way 90% of Southern Californians drive by being the lone vehicle driving 65mph in the fast or HOV lane. You will, however, increase the likelihood of causing a collision or being pulled over for driving too slowly. CHP will NOT be appreciate of “your part” in a major traffic accident and your insurance WILL find you at fault if the cause of the traffic accident was because you were driving too slow. Please stop doing this just to prove a point or “do your part.”

 

[starlite_]

How can I drive any faster without breaking the law? The contempt for law enforcement has gotten out of hand. Just trying to do my part.

Doing your part... by putting everyone there (including yourself) in danger? Do your part by not doing that instead and matching the speed of everyone else like a good driver.

 

[MillauFr]

Then you should drive in the slow lane. The far left lanes are for faster moving vehicles. Every time you enter the fast lane or HOV lane and go 65mph, you are creating a dangerous situation for both yourself and all of the other vehicles around you. By doing this in the HOV lane, you are forcing the cars behind you to merge into the fast lane which is likely moving 15mph+ faster than they are moving to exit the HOV lane. You aren’t going to change the way 90% of Southern Californians drive by being the lone vehicle driving 65mph in the fast or HOV lane. You will, however, increase the likelihood of causing a collision or being pulled over for driving too slowly. CHP will NOT be appreciate of “your part” in a major traffic accident and your insurance WILL find you at fault if the cause of the traffic accident was because you were driving too slow. Please stop doing this just to prove a point or “do your part.”

The HOV lane is not the passing lane. It the lane you use if you have multiple people in your vehicle. Leave the other lanes for single occupant vehicles. You are not going to be pulled over for driving 65 mph in the HOV lane.

 

[MillauFr]

Doing your part... by putting everyone there (including yourself) in danger? Do your part by not doing that instead and matching the speed of everyone else like a good driver.

So you are advocating ignoring the law? Don't you find it ironic that in a thread where people are discussing safety and their concerns about criminals breaking the law and causing them harm that you are advocating for breaking the law?

 

[DLgal]

So you are advocating ignoring the law? Don't you find it ironic that in a thread where people are discussing safety and their concerns about criminals breaking the law and causing them harm that you are advocating for breaking the law?

You will only be cited for speeding on the freeway when you are going in excess of 20mph over the limit. There is leeway in freeway driving and the RULE in CA is that you must match the speed of traffic and should not drive faster or slower than is safe for road conditions. You could get ticketed for going 65mph on the freeway if it's raining and everyone else is going 40, for example, even though technically you aren't speeding. It goes the other way too. You CAN get ticketed for going too slow, even if you are going 65.

You are far more likely to be cited for speeding on surface streets because that is where the majority of car accidents occur.

If you haven't read through the most up to date CA Driver handbook recently, you should. It was eye opening for me when my son was studying for his driver's test last year. I can honestly say I was unaware of about 25% of the rules in there because I haven't picked up that handbook since 1994.

 

[Tinkaboo]

How did “Is DL safe?” get hijacked into a discussion about safe driving on highways? Please start your own thread instead of using someone else’s to opine on who is the better driver. Totally off topic.