Because of its massive urban sprawl and highways running in every direction, Atlanta has always been a car city. With the exception of a few specific areas, most places are best accessed by car, even if they appear to be only a short trip away.
Driving in Atlanta can be intimidating.Speeding is endemic; expect most highway drivers to go 75mph in suburban 55mph zones and 60mph+ in the downtown 45mph zones, while speed demons blow past at 80mph or more. Highways are up to 7 lanes wide in each direction, and drivers weave back and forth with little regard for lane ettiquette or turn signals. As an unwritten rule, the police do not generally stop highway drivers for going 60-75 if they are keeping up with traffic; unfortunately this means if you do get stopped, you will probably have a massive ticket for going 20mph or more over the speed limit.
Unfortunately, the interstate highways really are the best to get around metro Atlanta. U.S. Highways are generally urban arteries with low speed limits, lots of lights and lots of traffic. Only about a half-dozen of the Georgia State Routes in metro Atlanta are limited-access.
The best thing you can do is keep pace with traffic and be alert for drivers around you who will pull hazardous maneuvers.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Metro Atlanta
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Metro Atlanta - updated May 2024
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Metro Atlanta Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
