As the 405 Freeway slowly turned into desolation avenue, many people raised a toast to the anti-gridlock.
Instead of freaking out about this Carmageddon weekend and worrying about all the potential traffic jams around town, some people will be out celebrating instead.
Extra: Carmageddon Survival Kit
From the Valley to the beach, people are marking the occasion with parties and special deals.
In Sherman Oaks, some two dozen businesses are having a block party, offering discounts on food, clothes and jewelry.
"It's a great way for people to come out and rediscover their own neighborhoods," said Shannon Komsky, owner of Tough Cookies, a children's store.
In Santa Monica, the city is telling its residents to stay and play local. Locanda del Lago is offering food and drink specials if you give the secret password of none other than, "Carmageddon."
And a group of friends, who created the website car-mageddon.com are really getting the party started with an official Carmageddon Kick-Off party at Wokano in Santa Monica. They booked a live DJ, a live Twitter station and will be giving away T-shirts to mark the event.
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"We're going to have a costume contest. People will be dressing up in everything from traffic cones to bumper-to-bumpers, anything they can think of that's traffic-themed," said Anastasia Roark, co-founder of car-mageddon.com.
