3 Driving Rules Tourists Break That Scream “This Is My First Time in Los Angeles”

So you’ve chosen to drive in LA… Buckle up. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride!

While my job and passions mostly have me traversing Orange County to visit places like Disneyland, the local California sports venues, and beautiful SoCal beaches, I’m a born-and-raised Southern Californian from the LA Metropolitan Area — so I’ve ventured up into the big city thousands of times. And let me tell ya — Los Angeles driving has its own weird rhythm. The area’s reach is MASSIVE, and if you plan to go anywhere near LA County during a vacation, there are some honest mistakes you will want to avoid. And before you ask — no — there is no Lightning Lane Pass you can buy to get around this mess…

Driving in Los Angeles is part survival skill, part psychology experiment, and part group project where everyone is somehow both aggressive and weirdly passive at the same time. If you’re visiting LA for the first time, there are a few dead giveaways locals spot immediately — and most of them happen behind the wheel.

If you want to blend in a little better (or at least avoid becoming the star of someone else’s road rage story), here are three driving mistakes tourists make all the time in Los Angeles…

Don’t Wait Until the Last Second To Merge

There’s a very specific panic tourists experience when they realize their freeway exit is approaching. Suddenly, four lanes of traffic need to be crossed in about six seconds or less, and then everyone’s brakes light up — leading to chaos.

LA traffic is almost always bad unless you’re driving at 3 AM — and even then, you could encounter accident backups and road work bottlenecks. Locals have just accepted that driving anywhere takes time. What we don’t accept is someone trying to cut across three lanes at the very last second because they weren’t thinking ahead.

You need to give yourself time to merge here. If you miss an exit, it’s not the end of the world. Simply take the next one. That’s infinitely better than causing a near-accident trying to squeeze your rental car past several other vehicles.

And don’t buy into the stereotype that all Californians are laid-back. If you’re sightseeing and then swerve to make an exit — cutting people off in the process — the response may not be understanding and kindness…

Speaking of sightseeing — yes, Hollywood Boulevard and other iconic California landmarks are worth checking. No, that does not mean you should crawl down it at 10 mph while staring at the Walk of Fame like you’re on the Jungle Cruise.

Nothing exposes a tourist faster than slowing down traffic because you’re trying to spot Spider-Man standing outside the Chinese Theatre. Do yourself a favor and either take a rideshare or public transportation to these sites and enjoy them on foot. Heck, there are also sightseeing buses that specialize in this sort of thing.

LA drivers are surprisingly patient about traffic itself. What they hate is unpredictable driving. If you’re driving, commit to the flow of traffic and keep moving.

Don’t Rent a Convertible and Drive With the Top Down in the Winter

Every year, tourists arrive in Los Angeles expecting a tropical paradise. Then nighttime hits, the temperature drops into the 50s or 40s, and suddenly everyone in the convertible is wrapped in souvenir hoodies while questioning their life choices.

Yes, Southern California has great weather. But it’s not Hawaii.

LA’s climate is basically a tolerable desert sitting next to the Pacific Ocean. During the winter — especially at night — it can get legitimately chilly. Add freeway speeds and ocean air into the mix, and that “fun convertible experience” quickly turns into a wind tunnel. While I love our weather, it’s not always like what you see in the movies.

Locals can always spot the first-time visitors because they’re the only people driving down Sunset Boulevard in January with the top down while visibly freezing. Meanwhile, the person next to them in the sedan has heated seats and is handling the California cold just fine.

If you rent a convertible, great! Just don’t assume every day is perfect beach weather. LA weather changes more than people expect, especially once the sun goes down.

Don’t Treat the GPS Like It’s Perfect

This one gets people constantly — including some locals. GPS apps are helpful, but in Los Angeles, blindly obeying them can cause problems. Not all routes are equal here, and the map rarely tells the full story.

For example, even out here in Orange County, GPS directions from Disneyland will often suggest to me to take side streets home instead of freeways because the app sees freeway traffic and assumes surface streets are faster. But it doesn’t always account for endless stoplights, awkward intersections, school zones, or lights that seem to last three years.

Sometimes the freeway is still way faster because you can continuously move, even in heavy traffic. Going 30 mph on the 5 Freeway is still faster than going 35 mph and stopping every 90 seconds for a couple of minutes at a light.

But the opposite can also be true! Some side street routes are fantastic if they avoid major choke points and keep lights minimal. The trick is understanding why a route works — not just following the GPS blindly.

Some LA County routes will send you through winding canyon roads, tiny residential streets, or narrow two or one-lane roads where one delivery truck can destroy traffic for twenty minutes. If you’re unfamiliar with mountain driving or tight canyon turns, that can become stressful fast.

The AI behind map apps is smart, but it’s not perfect. It doesn’t know when a route feels miserable to drive, even if technically it saves two minutes. That’s why experienced LA drivers usually build in extra time and stay flexible.

Leaving earlier than you think you need to is one of the smartest things you can do here. It gives you room to reroute, adapt, and avoid turning your vacation into a nightmare. In Los Angeles, the fastest route is sometimes the route that keeps you sane.

The reality is that driving in LA stinks. No tip I give you will change that fact. However, if you give yourself enough time, take the drive seriously, and pack plenty of patience with you, you will absolutely survive.

The AllEars team and I will continue to bring you all sorts of Disneyland and California vacation tips, so make sure you keep it right here at AllEars to stay in the know!

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Have you driven in Los Angeles? Share your best tips in the comments below!

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