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And then if your friend makes that call, he has to conduct a traffic stop. On the freeway! So in the interest of penalizing someone who committed no safety inf

And then if your friend makes that call, he has to conduct a traffic stop. On the freeway! So in the interest of penalizing someone who committed no safety infraction, only a financial one, we create a dangerous situation for everyone on the freeway, including the officer. > In 1998, California Highway Patrol officer Scott Greenly was struck by a car and killed while issuing a ticket on the shoulder of Route 85; thereafter the portion between Quito Road and Prospect Road in the City of Saratoga was named the CHP Officer Scott M. Greenly Memorial Freeway. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_85#Other_unique_features_and_events https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_85#Othe... Regarding "the 101", I always wondered why it's "101" here and "the 101" in SoCal. According to an article I read, it's because the original Los Angeles area freeways didn't have numbers, just names: the Pasadena Freeway, the Ventura Freeway, etc. It only made sense to use "the". When they got numbers later, the habit of using "the" stuck around. In the Bay Area, the freeways got numbers first. They do have names too (like the stretch of 85 mentioned above), but mostly no one uses their names or even know them. So there never was a habit of using "the" with the number.

jedberg 5y ago
I was always told by people outside of LA that the reason was because in LA the freeways are so important they're revered like religious idols so they get the definite article. But my parents grew up through the transition you describe and back up what you said, that they all had names before numbers. I was a kid in the early 80s and back then all the traffic reports on the radio were still by freeway name, so I learned them all that way too.
kart23 5y ago
I don't know about that. In socal, everyone says "the 5", but also omits "the" for PCH.

jedberg 5y ago

I was always told by people outside of LA that the reason was because in LA the freeways are so important they're revered like religious idols so they get the definite article. But my parents grew up through the transition you describe and back up what you said, that they all had names before numbers. I was a kid in the early 80s and back then all the traffic reports on the radio were still by freeway name, so I learned them all that way too.

kart23 5y ago

I don't know about that. In socal, everyone says "the 5", but also omits "the" for PCH.