Congratulations if you are a motorist who routinely – and, more importantly, successfully – negotiates the complex traffic network spanning Los Angeles County.

That is no tongue-in-cheek endorsement of your driving skills. Roadways across the vast and varied metro are complex and fast-paced to a degree unparalleled anywhere else in the country. For better or worse, Southern California is widely known for its huge expanse of busy streets and heavily traveled highways. You’re a survivor.

Tragically, not everyone is. That sad reality is prominently noted in one Los Angeles legal source addressing the region’s widely posed risks for drivers and other vehicle occupants. It stresses that, “Even if you are a safe driver, every hour you spend on LA roads makes you more susceptible to accidents.”

Potential risks galore: Los Angeles metro crash-inducing catalysts

Here are some reasons why LA-area drivers routinely face heightened road risks, as noted by the above-cited overview:

  • Speeding and other reckless driving behaviors (e.g., tailgating, constant lane weaving, failure to signal and more)
  • Running of red lights (arguably a metro epidemic)
  • Distracted driving (a wide gamut of behaviors ranging from cellphone use and eating to playing with kids/pets and dozing at the wheel)
  • Drunk driving

That last bullet entry receives a bit of additional scrutiny immediately below.

Season’s greetings … from the LA County Sheriff’s Department

A notably amped-up police presence is often visible this time of year, and it is no different as this year nears conclusion and the next one begins.

The goal: to promote safety on county roads and make a notably high number of arrests.

State troopers and local law enforcers have certainly had no problem advancing those aims in prior campaigns. Reportedly, a so-called “Christmas Day maximum enforcement period” in 2018 netted a staggering 1,166 DUI arrests. An initiative during the Thanksgiving weekend period last year yielded nearly 870 drunk driving citations.

Officials promise more of the same this go-round. “There’s no joy in a DUI,” says one police official.

The overall focus of the current campaign is broad and encompassing more than scrutiny of alleged drunk drivers and motorists impaired by drug use. Law enforcers say they will also be targeting drivers who engage in any unsafe behind-the-wheel practices, including speeding, failure to yield and other dangerous behaviors.

Happy holidays and safe motoring to all readers.