Driving in LA, coming to tems with the fact that I will have to, any tips?

[peachygirl]

I'm off to California in august, four days in San Fransisco, four days in Las vegas and then six days in LA. My DH soesn't drive and I had hoped not to. I think the first two cities will be fine as pedestians / public transport but I'm slowly realising that in LA we will probably have to get a car. I am very scared. I've been driving for about 9 years and have never driven aboard, or driven an automatic for that matter. Please any tips/ experiences would be gratefully recieved

You will be absolutely fine because everybody drives really slowly!! The highways (especially the 405 which is the big highway that runs from LA to San Diego and then some ) are clogged with traffic and so really easy to navigate as nothing happens at speed - also they have very wide roads and everything is very clearly marked - there are a few main roads in LA like Santa Monica Blvd, Sunset etc and everything is arranged in neat blocks, so, unlike Europe, for the most part, getting lost means making 3 continuous left or right turns and you will be back where you started!
An automatic will be the easier thing to get to grips with - you have three gears that count - drive, reverse and park - that's it! and you don't actually have to park you car at all because everything is valet
the windscreen wipers and indicators will be on different sides, but that just adds to th laugh and with regards to driving on the wrong side of the road, just remember that, as the driver you will be on the left of the car and so the middle white line always needs to be on your left - remember that and you will be fine - have fun!!