Expert: Steve Summers - 7/22/2006

Question
My sister and I are going to La Jolla and will be arriving into LAX from London at about 1830 on a Friday night. As car rental is so cheap we'd rather drive down than fly but keep hearing conflicting reports on how long the actual journey is! We appreciate that Friday traffic may be bad and that stops add time etc. Please advise if this is a ridiculous thing for us to be doing!
Many thanks

Answer
Hi Oz,

Friday nights on the 405 and 5 can be pretty brutal. You know why they call it the 405? Because you only go 4 o' 5 miles per hour, and it takes 4 o' 5 hours to get where you're going!

Joking aside, the traffic can be pretty bad from LA to San Diego. However, I think that the worst of the traffic should be over by the time you get out of the airport. If you arrive on time at 1830, it should still take some time to get your luggage, your car, and clear customs. I think by the time you get out of the airport, the worst of the traffic will be gone. So I think that you should have a nice drive down the coast.

Have fun,

Steve