APRIL

It was one of the most graphic and bizarre events ever to unfold on a Los Angeles freeway: A man with a gripe against HMOs parked his pickup truck on a busy freeway intersection, set it ablaze and then committed suicide--on live television--creating a nightmarish, miles-long traffic jam during the evening commute. It began as yet another of our prosaic freeway chases and ended in a swarm of guns, stalled cars, cellular phones, news helicopters, desperate self-promotion and a cinematic conclusion.