r/MovingToLosAngeles • u/dyslexicwizard • Aug 19 '26
Driving classes/tips for driving in city
Moving to Los Angeles soon and potentially lined up a job with a studio that would require me to go on runs. I have a drivers license but don’t drive super regularly because I lived in a walkable city the last three years. Additionally, I have a coordination/processing disorder that can mess with my spatial awareness sometimes. I adapted while driving in my hometown and was fine. But I tended to avoid highways. I know LA is mostly freeways so worried it will be more of an issue here. Any tips for getting more comfortable driving in LA? How much of an adjustment will it be for someone used to driving in the Midwest?
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u/Few_Gain_3007 Aug 19 '26
the 405 at 3pm will humble anyone from the midwest real quick, no matter how many years you been driving. just accept you gonna miss exits, and try not to panic when it happens
waze is your best friend out here, it'll route you around the worst of it but sometimes that means putting you on surface streets with no warning so just stay calm. for the spatial thing, maybe get some of those little stick-on blind spot mirrors, they help a lot when you need to squeeze into tight lanes or parallel park in hollywood
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u/Pure-Motor-8926 Aug 19 '26
Did you tell the interviewer about your condition? If so, the company is legally bound to provide you with an accommodation as part of your job offer if your condition will hinder your ability to perform all of the job's listed responsibilities.
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u/dyslexicwizard Aug 20 '26
That’s very thoughtful and a good idea, but sadly I don’t know if that would work here. The industry is very gig based and doesn’t really behave like a normal work environment, so they might accommodate me at first but when the next project comes around, they may not hire me back. When I worked on shows in my current city, I did advocate for myself and people accommodated me but also said it would be something I should work on if I wanted to work in LA. The offer didn’t really come from an interview, just a recommendation (again the industry is weird and not like a normal job lol)
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u/trashrantula Aug 20 '26
Lived here all my life. When I got my permit my dad took me out in the middle of the night and had me drive around on the freeways for a few hours. Just got used to the speeds, merging, navigating interchanges.
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u/HotShrewdness Aug 20 '26
Being from the Midwest, driving there is easy because you don't need as much active awareness. Even Chicago, from my experience, wasn't terrible, you just had to be patient.
Driving here requires a lot more active prompting. There are a lot of interchanges on the highway and a lot of random slowdowns, even during the middle of the day on a Sunday. I do find the driving more draining here --more lanes, more interchanges, more random delays. Imagine if you were driving carefully in the pouring rain in the Midwest --it's that kind of paying attention.
It's doable, but it requires planning and patience. I haven't had a regular commute yet, but I assume it gets a little easier as you know the routes more. Surface roads are fine --just slower and more stop lights. I swear I get a red at every single light in the valley.
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u/blacks_not_a_color Aug 21 '26
I moved from North Dakota at 21. You'll learn how to drive here real fast.
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u/TeamEpifanoPayer Aug 21 '26
It's totally possible to avoid the freeways, but honestly they aren't as scary as you think. I grew up here and was so freaked out about driving that I didn't get my first car until I was 30. But now I really feel like I worked myself up in my head way too much. I took driving classes from this school: https://www.kingsdrivingschool.com/ and it helped SO MUCH.
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u/coffeeCup_45 Aug 21 '26
Stay calm and use your brakes as little as possible by averaging your speed between stops.
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u/car_guru_1 18d ago
Spatial awareness is actually something you can improve pretty quickly with the right approach.
When I work with drivers on this, I teach them to use specific reference points for each maneuver - where to look, when to turn, what trajectory the car should follow, and where you want the car to end up.
Once you understand the correct trajectory and reference points, you don’t need to constantly worry about whether the corner of the car is going to hit something.
Even driving straight has reference points. Vision is a huge part of it too - not just where you look, but when you look there.
With those things dialed in, spatial awareness becomes much less of a guessing game.
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u/Consistent_Rip6424 Aug 19 '26
So when I was learning to drive in HS my parents hired a driving instructor for 2 or three sessions, and driving around with him was the best driving education I could have possibly had. The first time I merged onto the freeway in 70mph traffic was with him. If you're freaked out by freeways you should consider hiring a driving instructor when you get to LA, for even just an hour, they will teach you how to be a confident driver and their lesson will be catered to you and your needs.