There’s nothing like a roadside burrito!
Getting stalled in Los Angeles traffic isn’t usually like that scene from “La La Land,” where commuters break out into choreographed dancing, all smiling faces and jazz hands. But sometimes, it’s not all bad.
A car crash on Interstate 105 in Los Angeles left many stuck in traffic for hours on the morning of Aug. 24. And once it became clear that the traffic was going to be worse than usual on this atypical L.A. morning, people started to do the only thing that made sense — visit the food truck that was also stalled in traffic.
Fox11 caught a view of the traffic and food truck visitors on video and posted it to their Facebook account:
People took to Twitter to comment on the incident, with some — like Twitter user @g8rlitig8r — pointing out that frequenting a food truck while stuck in traffic was “peak LA”:
Peak LA: crash on the 105 leaves drivers stuck for 3 hours. Food truck shows up and serves freeway drivers.
— Cheryl Priest Ainsworth (@g8rlitig8r) August 24, 2018
Thankfully, the food truck was there to “rescue” all of the hungry drivers:
Traffic NIGHTMARE on the 105 Freeway in Hawthorne after a bad wreck. Food truck to the rescue! #LAtraffic #foodtruck #Hawthorne #developing #fox11 pic.twitter.com/t0thfLD5FM
— Mario Ramirez (@MarioFOXLA) August 24, 2018
People online were happy to see the camaraderie that came from the incident. “If the people of LA can come together during gridlock traffic… this country is capable of anything,” Twitter user @ABC7Veronica wrote.
If the people of LA can come together during gridlock traffic… this country is capable of anything.🤣
Drivers on the 105 were stuck in gridlock traffic after a fiery, fatal tanker truck crash — so, a food truck opened up shop right on the freeway lanes https://t.co/rviPykwguQ pic.twitter.com/iuZe8Lmdfk
— Veronica Miracle (@ABC7Veronica) August 24, 2018
Twitter user @DesertWolfPS called the food truck owner the “smartest food truck owner in the world”:
“People had to eat,” says the owner of a Mexican food truck that fed commuters stopped for hours after a fiery crash on a L.A. freeway @LATACO h/t @shelbygrad #Recharge https://t.co/dpC4CPpkMj
— David Beard (@dabeard) August 25, 2018
Admittedly, it was a smart business move. While the owner, Carlos Chavez, told LA Taco that “usually we never set up somewhere we’re not supposed to,” these clearly weren’t ordinary circumstances.
The truck was actually on its way to the Los Angeles International Airport where, for 10 years, Chavez has been permitted to sell to airport employees inside terminal security. But given that traffic was slow and people were hungry — he did what he had to do, providing breakfast to hungry drivers.
“We mostly sold breakfast burritos,” Chavez told LA Taco.
Unfortunately, the accident involved a fiery crash between a tanker truck and an SUV, and it was fatal to the two drivers. But while the circumstances causing Friday’s traffic were sad, it’s nice to see that the delays resulted in something other than car horns and road rage. Instead, people were able to come together and share a meal.