---
title: "Hellish Los Angeles Thanksgiving Traffic Jam Will Make You Glad You Live Elsewhere"
description: "And we thought Paris was the city of lights."
date: "2017-11-22"
modified: "2017-11-22"
authors:
  - name: "Kyle Cheromcha"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/16344/hellish-los-angeles-thanksgiving-traffic-jam-will-make-you-glad-you-live-elsewhere"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "AAA"
  - "California"
  - "gridlock"
  - "holiday travel"
  - "los angeles"
  - "Thanksgiving"
  - "Traffic"
  - "Traffic Jam"
---

# Hellish Los Angeles Thanksgiving Traffic Jam Will Make You Glad You Live Elsewhere

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/11/traffic.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

With an [estimated 45 million Americans](<https://newsroom.aaa.com/2017/11/nearly-51-million-americans-travel-thanksgiving-highest-volume-dozen-years/>) hitting the road to visit family or friends for Thanksgiving this week, chances are you're one of them. And if you happen to live in Los Angeles, chances are you're still sitting in this massive, bumper-to-bumper [traffic jam](<https://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/602/the-10-biggest-traffic-jams-ever>) caused by people trying to get a head start on holiday travel on Tuesday night. Don't you hate it when 4 million people have the same idea?

The traffic in Los Angeles is generally the stuff of legends, but it's hard not to be impressed (and horrified) by the near-gridlock conditions seen on and around Interstate 405 during the evening rush hour. A helicopter crew working for *ABC News* captured the incredible light show, which doubles as both a handy argument for Uber's [vision of flying taxis](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/15882/uber-and-nasa-to-bring-flying-cars-to-los-angeles>) and Elon Musk's plan for [a network of subsurface transit tunnels](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/10218/elon-musk-shows-first-working-demo-of-the-boring-companys-tunnel-under-los-angeles>) in the city.

https://twitter.com/_/status/933150615009669120

Traversing the entire Los Angeles basin, Interstate 405 is one of the busiest highways in the country and regularly grinds to a halt in rush hour traffic on a good day. On a busy, pre-holiday travel day, it can take hours to cover a measly few miles, and the spillover onto surface streets can plunge surrounding areas into gridlock. *CNN* also had an aerial crew fly over the mess on Tuesday, showing the full extent of the jam.

https://twitter.com/_/status/933335076976431104

[AAA previously predicted](<https://newsroom.aaa.com/2017/11/nearly-51-million-americans-travel-thanksgiving-highest-volume-dozen-years/>) that Tuesday evening would be one of the worst times to drive anywhere around the country this week, with drivers taking an average of 2.5 times longer than normal to reach their destinations. Oh, and Wednesday night won't be a picnic either. Basically, if you're reading this, ideally you're already where you need to be. If not...might want to get a move on.

## Author
Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/kylecheromcha.bsky.social>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/kylecheromcha>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-cheromcha-1550248a/>)