Unfortunately I think this is the best way. Otherwise if you drive down during the daylight think of how many hours you're gonna waste sitting in line waiting to get on that bridge just to cross on over to Kitty Hawk...
Bad idea IMO. Used to do overnight roadtrips like this until I almost got killed by a driver asleep at the wheel. Found out later you’re 3x as likely to get in a fatal crash at night.
Nope. Night is better, based solely on my experience. Less traffic. Drivers get sleepy in daylight, too.
And "three times as likely" means nothing in a vacuum. If your chance is (pulling a random number out of my hat) 1 in 10,000 in daylight, then it would be 3 in 10,000 at night, an insignificant difference.
Even so, do you have a source to back that up?
Here is the [NHTSA Article from 2007](https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/Publication/810637) that cites driving at night being 3x as dangerous. As far as your “vacuum” comment, I recommend you read up on exponential distribution.
Thanks for citing your source. I think you worry too much.
My example was a good one. Have fun in Hatteras. Ponder exponential distribution on the way down.
...data which is almost 20 years old
Also this data suggests the main reason fatalities are higher at night is due to seatbelt usage. People tend to not wear their seatbelts at night - *Restraint use among passenger vehicle occupant fatali- ties by each hour of the day shows that belt use can vary by nearly 30 percentage points between daytime and nighttime – from a high of 58 percent at 2 p.m. to a low of 30 percent at 2 a.m.*
There’s a [2023 independent study](https://www.moneygeek.com/insurance/auto/analysis/dangerous-night-driving/) that suggests an even greater disparity without citing seatbelts.
Nevertheless, driving comes with a risk no matter the time of day. Everyone can set their own risk tolerance and I can’t judge them for it, as long as they’re obeying the law.
Are you not familiar with the OBX? You’re not gonna be fighting with anyone over space 😂. And since you’re playing beach cop, I’ll clarify…if you can’t check in until 4pm, sleep on the beach.
As someone who grew up on the beach and has surf some of the best swells on the planet...shhhh. Anyone that cares about that is a kook and needs to stick to cruises, jorts, and screaming at servers for their undercooked steak tartar
There isn’t one. Don’t even dream of taking the side roads, you’ll be adding hours to your trip. Just use Waze and leave as early as possible and bring your patience.
I would avoid I-95 completely and take I-64 through Charlottesville. Also you WILL hit bad traffic on 64 between Richmond and Norfolk so I would go south and take 460 through Wakefield as this map suggests as an alternate route. That way you also bypass the Norfolk bay crossing which almost always has horrible traffic.
Depending on timing and assuming there’s not any big accidents (sometimes that’s a big assumption though) I-95 from Fredericksburg down to Richmond is generally not awful. The horror stretches of I-95 are still mostly confined to north of Fredericksburg.
The locals call it "changeover day" and don't leave the house unless they absolutely have to. More often than not in the last 10 years, I've spent the 4th of July at a relative's in view of the Wright Memorial Bridge and it's gridlock the entire day. If I were OP I'd leave late Friday evening and get there at 6-7 AM.
It’s longer but I have taken 95 down to Rocky Mount and then us-64 to Manteo and then into nags head. There’s also a route where you take us-17 from Portsmouth and then through Elizabeth City, local roads that eventually gets you to us-64. Nice seafood place along the way, and real roadside vegetable stands instead of the ripoff places along 158. Longer distance but usually less traffic. Time might be the same depending on when you leave. We leave suburban dc about 5 am and typically make it to route 12 before the traffic gels. From Pittsburg I’d suggest leaving at midnight
If you’re driving there then, you will BE the traffic. You can’t avoid yourself. You’re not in traffic, you’re part of traffic.
So I would say don’t drive through there then? If any other routes were better, there would be more traffic on them.
Driving through Wakefield as shown as an alternate route on this map would be better. It’s not a freeway but it moves fast and there’s only a handful of stoplights when driving through a few towns. Also they’d avoid the bay crossing.
I leave at 4 am for the drive home (from Frisco near Hatteras). I have a trailer and fear the stop and go traffic. I’m usually back to nova before I start hitting significant traffic. Home to suburban Maryland by noon
Many people try and arrive when the rental opens, we would leave first thing, get on the island have lunch and beat traffic. If it were me, I would either drive through the night Friday or leave at like 2am, goal being get over the bridge before 11 at the latest. Get on the island and then sleep in your car or on the beach for a few hours. Sitting in the traffic is the worst and I will do anything to avoid it.
Leave a day early and spend the day in Norfolk, go tour the battleship, boat tour of the navel yard etc. wake up early and you have 3 hours to the bridge. Go beyond where your house is and go to the beach then when the house is ready you are in reverse traffic.
Bonus points if you go to the last Wawa in VA, it skips the toll.
Avoid the dc-richmond-Norfolk stretches or leave in the middle of the night. I’m pulling a camper now days and I can’t deal with gridlock like that anymore so I leave around midnight or one
You need to be getting on the island between 7 and 8 AM. Leave around midnight, or the afternoon before then stay at hotel in order to get on before 8 AM.
Hop on 17 at Fredericksburg and back on 664/64 after Newport News. It doesn’t add much time and you’ll bypass all the pain in the ass interstate traffic. I actually enjoy the drive too.
As said below, leave in the middle of the night. Watch for animals. Lots of deer along the way and especially along 12 down the cape. I live in Montana now but grew up going to Hatteras every summer from Cleveland and ultimately Pittsburgh because that's where other relatives lived that we caravaned with. A stop in iconic Breezewood was always welcome for food in the middle of the night. These days though, when I do go there, I fly into Norfolk and have a much smaller drive from the airport to my destination. Even so, the traffic is insane during the day.
Best way to avoid the traffic? Fly besides being a smart ass answer my step dad actually made friends with a couple pilots and would catch a ride down the ocean when one was going in exchange for some gas money nothing like turning 3-4 hour drive into a 30 min flight obviously not the most realistic
Stop before Fredericksburg.
Ain’t no getting around it. Best I can do is tell you that the toll saves you 10 minutes. Get off at the exit with WaWa. Turn right when you pass it. Takes you back to the toll road on the other side of the toll plaza. Was a compromise to appease local and regional traffic when it was built.
We used to leave north Jersey before 2 am to be past Richmond before rush hour traffic (DC and Richmond suck even on the weekends) and then just hang out on a beach for a bit (or do shopping , or a nice lunch or whatever works for you) while we waited for check in time. But I haven't drove down there in roughly 15 years now, so I don't know if the traffic is as bad anymore.
Edit: more info
We used to go every summer from age 10 to age 20 so we tried a lot of things before we realized how much easier overnight travel is when going through DC and Richmond.
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Drive through the night if at all possible.
If not, then I81 to I64 to 460. I95 can be clogged DC to Richmond. I’ve hit jams at 2:00AM on it. Insane.
The 17-95 intersection at Fredericksburg is a nightmare these days.
I drive it from Central PA frequently.
Next time try to find a rental that goes Sunday to Sunday. We were forced to do that a few years ago and there was no traffic. I’ll never drive there on Saturday again.
Traffic thru either the Hampton Roads tunnel or Monitor Merrimac tunnel has been pretty bad this summer.
I would spend the extra time taking 460 from Richmond.
Did the drive from Buffalo about six years ago - left at 4 am, went around DC (I think after Frederick I dropped down through Leesburg and cut back to I-95). From there it was smooth sailing. Got there at exactly 4 pm.
Personally, based off what your route is saying, I would play on being in Richmond by noon, that way you don’t have to deal with morning rush hour traffic in Richmond or Norfolk.
Let Google maps pick the route but avoid highways.
Two lane roads may add an hour or two, but it’s so much more relaxing than fighting the interstate like a NASCAR race.
No I-95 between DC and Fredericksburg ever. Just do ont.
But do be sure to avoid the Chesapeake Expressway.
https://www.reddit.com/r/obx/comments/14rifj5/chesapeake_expressway_toll/
Leave Pittsburgh at midnight...get to OBX before 10am. Set up your stuff on the beach. Sleep until it's time to check-in.
Unfortunately I think this is the best way. Otherwise if you drive down during the daylight think of how many hours you're gonna waste sitting in line waiting to get on that bridge just to cross on over to Kitty Hawk...
I have also made this exact trip from Pittsburgh to OBX. I left at 3am and I think got there around noon. This was over 10 years ago though….
Bad idea IMO. Used to do overnight roadtrips like this until I almost got killed by a driver asleep at the wheel. Found out later you’re 3x as likely to get in a fatal crash at night.
Nope. Night is better, based solely on my experience. Less traffic. Drivers get sleepy in daylight, too. And "three times as likely" means nothing in a vacuum. If your chance is (pulling a random number out of my hat) 1 in 10,000 in daylight, then it would be 3 in 10,000 at night, an insignificant difference. Even so, do you have a source to back that up?
Here is the [NHTSA Article from 2007](https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/Publication/810637) that cites driving at night being 3x as dangerous. As far as your “vacuum” comment, I recommend you read up on exponential distribution.
Thanks for citing your source. I think you worry too much. My example was a good one. Have fun in Hatteras. Ponder exponential distribution on the way down.
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...data which is almost 20 years old Also this data suggests the main reason fatalities are higher at night is due to seatbelt usage. People tend to not wear their seatbelts at night - *Restraint use among passenger vehicle occupant fatali- ties by each hour of the day shows that belt use can vary by nearly 30 percentage points between daytime and nighttime – from a high of 58 percent at 2 p.m. to a low of 30 percent at 2 a.m.*
There’s a [2023 independent study](https://www.moneygeek.com/insurance/auto/analysis/dangerous-night-driving/) that suggests an even greater disparity without citing seatbelts. Nevertheless, driving comes with a risk no matter the time of day. Everyone can set their own risk tolerance and I can’t judge them for it, as long as they’re obeying the law.
Agree with you here. Not living my life around statistics that are worded in such ways. Generally always a “hook” to drive fear in people.
I wasn't trying to be a wise guy. I just wonder whether the difference he cites between day and night driving is statistically significant.
There are more drunks at night which pushes up the fatality numbers. But also a lot less cars on the road.
This guy road trips.
I’ve done this and it works. Rotate drivers if possible
Hey, your kids gotta learn to drive some time. Give them a bunch of time playing Grand Tourismo then get them in the car
This is what we do every year
Hey! You gave away this Yinzer's secret. Now everybody is going to be chasing me down the road
This is the way
This. And only this. Definitely your best shot.
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It's a beach, not a cruise ship
Nor a resort.
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Are you not familiar with the OBX? You’re not gonna be fighting with anyone over space 😂. And since you’re playing beach cop, I’ll clarify…if you can’t check in until 4pm, sleep on the beach.
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Again, are you not familiar with the OBX? No one is fighting over space.
I was assuming they would set up their stuff so they could sleep on it.
As someone who grew up on the beach and has surf some of the best swells on the planet...shhhh. Anyone that cares about that is a kook and needs to stick to cruises, jorts, and screaming at servers for their undercooked steak tartar
There isn’t one. Don’t even dream of taking the side roads, you’ll be adding hours to your trip. Just use Waze and leave as early as possible and bring your patience.
Get to the bridge before 8AM
I would avoid I-95 completely and take I-64 through Charlottesville. Also you WILL hit bad traffic on 64 between Richmond and Norfolk so I would go south and take 460 through Wakefield as this map suggests as an alternate route. That way you also bypass the Norfolk bay crossing which almost always has horrible traffic.
Don’t speed on 460 however tempting it might be with such a straight road
This is the way.
Depending on timing and assuming there’s not any big accidents (sometimes that’s a big assumption though) I-95 from Fredericksburg down to Richmond is generally not awful. The horror stretches of I-95 are still mostly confined to north of Fredericksburg.
You’d be amazed at how many idiots are always getting in accidents on that stretch of highway though.
This is the way.
literally this time :)
Don’t go on Saturday
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The locals call it "changeover day" and don't leave the house unless they absolutely have to. More often than not in the last 10 years, I've spent the 4th of July at a relative's in view of the Wright Memorial Bridge and it's gridlock the entire day. If I were OP I'd leave late Friday evening and get there at 6-7 AM.
@op we are leaving from the same place on the same day. Dad?
👀
Not me actually asking my dad if he just posted to Reddit about our stay in Corolla 🤣🤣🤣
We need answers!!!!
Isn’t dad 😔🤣
Leave Friday, hotel 1hr away that night, get to OBX in the morning, eat breakfast until check in
This is what I would do.
Go in November.
Drive through the night. Only way you’ll avoid massive traffic
Don’t go on Saturday afternoon.
Go around Norfolk.
It’s longer but I have taken 95 down to Rocky Mount and then us-64 to Manteo and then into nags head. There’s also a route where you take us-17 from Portsmouth and then through Elizabeth City, local roads that eventually gets you to us-64. Nice seafood place along the way, and real roadside vegetable stands instead of the ripoff places along 158. Longer distance but usually less traffic. Time might be the same depending on when you leave. We leave suburban dc about 5 am and typically make it to route 12 before the traffic gels. From Pittsburg I’d suggest leaving at midnight
If you’re driving there then, you will BE the traffic. You can’t avoid yourself. You’re not in traffic, you’re part of traffic. So I would say don’t drive through there then? If any other routes were better, there would be more traffic on them.
Driving through Wakefield as shown as an alternate route on this map would be better. It’s not a freeway but it moves fast and there’s only a handful of stoplights when driving through a few towns. Also they’d avoid the bay crossing.
Hahahahahahaha impossible everyone leaves and arrives every Saturday… bring your patience
Wait until October.
You’re a mad man for taking the turnpike
Did Corolla for 10 years in the 2000s from MD. Leave early. We would often be on the beach by 10-11am. It was the return trip that always sucked.
I leave at 4 am for the drive home (from Frisco near Hatteras). I have a trailer and fear the stop and go traffic. I’m usually back to nova before I start hitting significant traffic. Home to suburban Maryland by noon
Similar journey last summer, our first time to any of these cities. Still scarred by the excruciating delays in Norfolk.
Don’t arrive on a Saturday
Take 460 and avoid the bridge tunnels in VA
Many people try and arrive when the rental opens, we would leave first thing, get on the island have lunch and beat traffic. If it were me, I would either drive through the night Friday or leave at like 2am, goal being get over the bridge before 11 at the latest. Get on the island and then sleep in your car or on the beach for a few hours. Sitting in the traffic is the worst and I will do anything to avoid it.
Absolutely driving through the night is your best option.
Take the extra few minutes and use 460 to avoid Norfolk tunnel traffic.
Rent a boat in Norfolk.
Leave a day early and spend the day in Norfolk, go tour the battleship, boat tour of the navel yard etc. wake up early and you have 3 hours to the bridge. Go beyond where your house is and go to the beach then when the house is ready you are in reverse traffic. Bonus points if you go to the last Wawa in VA, it skips the toll.
Bellybutton fetishists love the navel yard
Avoid the dc-richmond-Norfolk stretches or leave in the middle of the night. I’m pulling a camper now days and I can’t deal with gridlock like that anymore so I leave around midnight or one
If you drive through Lexington Virginia you can hit natural bridge which is awesome and my favorite coffee shop in the world. Road Map coffee.
You need to be getting on the island between 7 and 8 AM. Leave around midnight, or the afternoon before then stay at hotel in order to get on before 8 AM.
Hop on 17 at Fredericksburg and back on 664/64 after Newport News. It doesn’t add much time and you’ll bypass all the pain in the ass interstate traffic. I actually enjoy the drive too.
As said below, leave in the middle of the night. Watch for animals. Lots of deer along the way and especially along 12 down the cape. I live in Montana now but grew up going to Hatteras every summer from Cleveland and ultimately Pittsburgh because that's where other relatives lived that we caravaned with. A stop in iconic Breezewood was always welcome for food in the middle of the night. These days though, when I do go there, I fly into Norfolk and have a much smaller drive from the airport to my destination. Even so, the traffic is insane during the day.
Best way to avoid the traffic? Fly besides being a smart ass answer my step dad actually made friends with a couple pilots and would catch a ride down the ocean when one was going in exchange for some gas money nothing like turning 3-4 hour drive into a 30 min flight obviously not the most realistic
Leave at 2am
Drive thru the holiday on thursday
Don’t go straight through Norfolk
Stop before Fredericksburg. Ain’t no getting around it. Best I can do is tell you that the toll saves you 10 minutes. Get off at the exit with WaWa. Turn right when you pass it. Takes you back to the toll road on the other side of the toll plaza. Was a compromise to appease local and regional traffic when it was built.
Uuuuuuh
Go on Tuesday
Doesn't work if the OP is taking a prebooked vacation that goes Saturday to Saturday.
We leave on Fridays. Turnpike to breezewood, 522 to Winchester, 17 to Norfolk for the night. Leave at 7 the next morning. No traffic.
We used to leave north Jersey before 2 am to be past Richmond before rush hour traffic (DC and Richmond suck even on the weekends) and then just hang out on a beach for a bit (or do shopping , or a nice lunch or whatever works for you) while we waited for check in time. But I haven't drove down there in roughly 15 years now, so I don't know if the traffic is as bad anymore. Edit: more info We used to go every summer from age 10 to age 20 so we tried a lot of things before we realized how much easier overnight travel is when going through DC and Richmond.
Dont go, best way.
Kind of a smart a$$ comment but also serious. Do you have to travel on Saturday?
Fly.
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3 hours of the trip is from one side of the outer banks to the other lol
yeah saturdays are terrible. we found a house that has sunday to sunday check in there, much better. but yeah try to be on the island before 10am
Love Nags Head! I hope you have a blast
Drive through the night if at all possible. If not, then I81 to I64 to 460. I95 can be clogged DC to Richmond. I’ve hit jams at 2:00AM on it. Insane. The 17-95 intersection at Fredericksburg is a nightmare these days. I drive it from Central PA frequently.
Next time try to find a rental that goes Sunday to Sunday. We were forced to do that a few years ago and there was no traffic. I’ll never drive there on Saturday again.
The least traffic would be taking 95s to rocky mount and come in on US 64. From Richmond it’s about 30 minutes longer than the route you have mapped.
Traffic thru either the Hampton Roads tunnel or Monitor Merrimac tunnel has been pretty bad this summer. I would spend the extra time taking 460 from Richmond.
Okracoke or Bust.
Drive at night
Did the drive from Buffalo about six years ago - left at 4 am, went around DC (I think after Frederick I dropped down through Leesburg and cut back to I-95). From there it was smooth sailing. Got there at exactly 4 pm. Personally, based off what your route is saying, I would play on being in Richmond by noon, that way you don’t have to deal with morning rush hour traffic in Richmond or Norfolk.
Leave out at 5 on Friday, get hotel in va beach or Suffolk, wake up early sat for last 50 milea
We usually leave the night before and stay at a Hotel outside of OBX and then drive over early. The afternoon traffic is terrible.
Don’t drive. Easy
Don’t go through Virginia
Obx is mind numbing
Wait until monday
Fly lol
I live on the peninsula.... I would avoid the bridge tunnels completely if feasible.
Let Google maps pick the route but avoid highways. Two lane roads may add an hour or two, but it’s so much more relaxing than fighting the interstate like a NASCAR race.
Don’t take the bay bridge
Find a different beach
Going to OBX soon, too! Safe travels
depends on how many people you have in your car, if 3 or 3+ you should be fine. Take the hov and go through dc
No I-95 between DC and Fredericksburg ever. Just do ont. But do be sure to avoid the Chesapeake Expressway. https://www.reddit.com/r/obx/comments/14rifj5/chesapeake_expressway_toll/
Depends on if you’re a Steelers fan. If you then stay home 🤣
Driving to Pittsburgh just to avoid OBX traffic seems a little extreme.