O.C. Answer Man: Why can’t local motorists handle driving in the rain?

We can! We just do it very badly. We’re spoiled by good weather and forget (or never learn) to make allowances for that strange wet stuff that falls from the sky. We don’t slow down, or leave extra distance between vehicles, or take other measures to allow for slick roads, new potholes, difficult cornering, longer braking distances, and impaired visibility. And when the weather’s sunny and dry, we don’t do preventive maintenance such as checking our wiper blades and tire treads. The fact that we haven’t figured it out in the 118 years since the automobile was introduced to Southern California suggests a dry climate and a long, long learning curve.