It’s Thanksgiving, and the 405 Freeway has once again become a symbol of the holiday travel crush as viral aerial footage shows Los Angeles traffic reduced to a crawl under a sea of red brake lights.Videos shared on social media and captured by helicopters reveal miles-long backups along the 405, one of the city’s busiest arteries. The footage shows thousands of vehicles inching forward, their brake lights glowing in an endless red ribbon, a scene many online users jokingly called a “true Thanksgiving tradition.” The Thanksgiving traffic surge is hardly a surprise, but this year’s numbers are especially staggering. The American Automobile Association (AAA) estimates that 73 million people across the United States will travel by car over the holiday weekend — 1.3 million more than last year — making 2024 one of the busiest Thanksgiving travel periods in decades, according to ABC News.In one clip that rapidly racked up views, one direction of the freeway appears coated in yellow headlights while the other is drenched in red, with both sides effectively at a standstill. Drivers headed out for the holiday getaway found themselves stuck in gridlock long before reaching their destinations. With millions more drivers expected to hit the roads through Sunday, Los Angeles — already infamous for congestion — is bracing for another round of bumper-to-bumper traffic.
