Los Angeles to Las Vegas at night

[Luigi]

Hi, im planning my honney moon. Im from Argentina, and i´m arriving to LAX at aprox, 11 pm 19 nov, sunday, and like to drive to Las vegas, that same morning. Rent a car and drive to Las Vegas at dark. Is safe? about traffic and robery? Highway, elevated? Iluminated? Police? Stoping areas? Duration at those hours? I read hear that in weekends it`s a lot of traffic, but i´m traveling opposite de traffic, is that right?
Thancs for any comment.

Luigi, Buenos Aires

[Mark Sedenquist]

Hi, im planning my honeymoon.

Congratulations on the pending wedding and honeymoon and welcome to the Great American RoadTrip Forum!

Im from Argentina, and i´m arriving to LAX at aprox, 11 pm 19 nov, sunday, and like to drive to Las vegas, that same morning.

By the time you get through customs, pick-up a rental car and leave the airport it will be ~ 1:30 am in the morning. It is your honeymoon! Wouldn't you rather get a motel and then drive at a reasonable hour later in the day?

Rent a car and drive to Las Vegas at dark. Is safe? about traffic and robery? Highway, elevated? Iluminated? Police? Stoping areas? Duration at those hours?

But if you decide you must drive all night to reach Las Vegas, it is an easy drive. It will take you about five hours and it is freeway the entire distance. No danger of robbery but you will go over three mountain passes. An alternative to staying in Los Angeles would be to drive to Victorville or even Barstow and sleep a while.

Enjoy the adventure!

Mark

[W. Larrison]

Hi, im planning my honney moon. Im from Argentina, and i´m arriving to LAX at aprox, 11 pm 19 nov, sunday, and like to drive to Las vegas, that same morning. Rent a car and drive to Las Vegas at dark. Is safe? about traffic and robery? Highway, elevated? Iluminated? Police? Stoping areas? Duration at those hours? I read hear that in weekends it`s a lot of traffic, but i´m traveling opposite de traffic, is that right?
Thancs for any comment.

Luigi, Buenos Aires

Hello Luigi, and congratulations on your upcoming honeymoon.

A couple of comments, if I may?

First, there's a 4 hour time zone difference between BA and LA. So 11 pm in Los Angeles will be 3 am in Buenos Aires. You'll be starting driving at about 5 am or so, local time, from Argentina. How much sleep do you think you'll have? and are you sure you'll be up to a 5 hour drive starting at what will feel like 5 am? (Some folks I know, this is starting to be the most awake time of the day -- other folks are barely conscious...)

Figuring a couple of hours to get through customs, find your luggage and get the rental car will have you hitting the freeways in LA at about 1 am. You'll be getting on a freeway within just a few miles of LAX, and once on the freeway you should be quite safe. Traffic will be minimal, although you should be aware that in a few areas the Highway Department does highway repair at that time, to avoid disrupting rush hour traffic. But I wouldn't expect any problems.. You'll be well out of town before the freeway rush hour starts at about 7 am.

The freeways to Las Vegas are of very good quality and regularly patroled by the California Highway Patrol (but perhaps not often..) If there is a problem, freeways for a hundred miles from LA have roadside emergency call boxes every mile which connect you directly to an emergency dispatcher. If you have a compatible cell phone, there is coverage just about 100% of the way, in case you need to call for help. (But again, unless something goes seriously wrong, its unlikely you'll need to.. )

Once you get out of the city (about 2 hours drive from LAX airport, it seems), there will be services along the road every 10-20 miles or so (fuel, food, restrooms, etc.) with all night gas stations, fast food outlets, etc. Most gas stations provide some level of food and drink available for purchase. I expect you will want to stop at least once to get gas for your vehicle on the way, and probably more than that for biological needs (find a restroom, stretch your legs...)

About every hour to 2 hours (about every 100 miles) there will be a highway rest area, which is put up by the State or Federal Highway Commission to provide water, bathrooms and a place to get out and stretch your legs. They are nothing fancy, don't provide fuel, but are usually very safe, and each has an emergency phone I've noted, as well they are moderately busy all night along the freeways with interstate truckers and night-time drivers.

Your speed to Vegas, once you get on the freeways should be in excess of 100 kph (60+ miles per hour), with lower speeds of 60-65 miles per hour in the city areas, and up to 75 miles per hour in the open stretches of the desert. The roadbed may not be lighted, but all the lanes are brightly marked with highly reflective lane markers which also provide a very visible "bump" as you cross lanes. Along much of the freeway the very outside margin is grooved to provide a rather distinctive thrumming sound and vibration to warn you if you are about to wander off the paved road. This is to help wake up sleepy or inattentive drivers -- please don't be one in the wee hours of the morning.

And, if you hit the road at about 1 am, you may be in Las Vegas well before 7 am. You might warn the hotel you will be arriving very late or very early that day -- some hotels have a policy to not check people in before 2 pm without charging them for another day, and may not have your room ready for you until the afternoon, if they expect you on Monday. Similarly, if they expected you Sunday night and you don't show up by midnight, they may give your room away.