Driving in New Orleans is an adventure. I went out last night to get some groceries. Driving at night is more fun b/c you can't see the potholes. Some of them can be pretty deep. The city tried to fill some of the potholes with sand. That didn't work to well. Everytime there's a storm, which is every day, the rain flushes the sand out of the pothole. The good thing is whenever you turn down a street covered in sand you know it has potholes. The city also hasn't gotten around to putting street signs up. Generally you have to kind of guess which street you are on. For instance, if you need to turn at St. Claude you get on a kind of busy street that goes east/west and drive a few blocks until you see a street sign or business name that indicates you are on St. Claude. But don't drive too far. If you accidentally go past Canal Street they change all the street names. So Decauter becomes Magazine street suddenly and without warning. It keeps everything fresh. The street lights also don't always work. An interesting set of lights only worked in one direction and were completely out on the crossing streets. So the traffic across the intersection had a green light while I had no light at all! Man, that was a surprise.
So while you scan the street for potholes you also look for street signs to figure out where you are while watching for possible traffic lights that aren't working. I like to also adjust my radio and talk on my cell phone while doing this. I haven't hit anyone yet but I've only been here a week.
To add one more obstacle to your ability to get anywhere the city has reposted all the no turn signs. Once you see that street sign and find out your on the wrong street, swerve past some potholes and dodge some oncoming traffic you realize you can't turn anywhere. Before you know it you're on the other side of Canal Street and totally lost. I usually drive down to the Mississippi river and follow it back to the Quarter and then try again.