There is nothing more frustrating in life than being stuck in traffic. A culmination of things make traffic annoying, whether its the fact that you are literally not moving, that you're trapped in a steel box, or that other drivers are constantly trying to push in and manoeuvre their way in front of you. Sat inside your little car, you get more and more wound up and have nothing to take your aggression out on, so you just sit there gritting your teeth and waiting.
But while the majority of us have experienced severe traffic at some point in our lives, it's unlikely to be anything near as bad as this.
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The people of Los Angeles had plenty of time to ponder their Thanksgiving plans and pick their upcoming Christmas presents as they sat in the city's Thanksgiving exodus on Tuesday night. As millions of people hit the road between 5pm - 6pm in order to get home to their families for the festivities, the AAA warned that journey times could be three times longer than usual.
Aerial footage of the 405 motorway - a stretch of road which is usually pretty clogged during rush hour anyway - shows bumper-to-bumper traffic stretching back for as far as the eye can see. Although it would be undoubtedly frustrating to sit in, there's something quite festive about seeing white and red stripes adorn the veins of the city - it's like one big Christmas parade.
According to KABC-TV, travellers were warned that the worst time to travel in LA was between the hours of 3:15pm and 6pm. The AAA warned those who were travelling between these times to be prepared for the journey to take at least 2.5 times longer than usual.
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The footage of the 405 has become a viral hit in recent years, but according to the AAA, this Thanksgiving will see the highest number of travellers since 2005. They estimate that 50.9million Americans will travel at least 50 miles home over for the Thanksgiving holiday between November 21 - 26.
According to the research, 45.5 million will travel automobile, up 3.2 per cent. Air travel will also rise five per cent, to almost four million.
"More thankful Americans will travel to spend time with friends and family this year," Bill Sutherland, AAA senior vice president, travel and publishing said.
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Transportation analytics firm INRIX has identified where the biggest traffic jams will appear across the weekend. They have highlighted 5pm to 6pm on Tuesday in Chicago, where trips can once again take three times as long as during non-rush hour, and 4pm to 4.45pm in San Francisco. Top of the list of most congested routes over the holiday period are Interstate 5 through southeast Los Angeles and Interstate 495 E in New York.
"Thanksgiving has historically been one of the busiest holidays for road trips, and this year we could see record-level travel delays," Bob Pishue, a transportation analyst at Seattle-based INRIX, says via AAA's report. "Knowing when and where congestion will build can help drivers avoid the stress of sitting in traffic."
While that traffic may look horrendous, there's pumpkin pie and a roast dinner waiting at the end of it, so it's all worth it really.
