Driving anywhere in Southern California will involve traffic delays at any time of day, and Long Beach is no exception. However, traffic in Long Beach is often milder than in surrounding areas.

Long Beach, California may be a popular suburb of

Los Angeles

, but it has a vibrant culture of its own. Between endless beach activities, waterfront attractions, and year-round festivals, Long Beach has it all—including traffic.

Compared to LA, traffic in Long Beach isn’t all that bad—but it’s not great, either. Here to outline the details of Long Beach’s traffic problems—and give you some tips to lower your

Long Beach car insurance costs

—is

Jerry

, the No. 1-rated insurance app and driving expert.

How bad is Long Beach traffic?

While nearby Los Angeles is the sixth most congested city in the United States, traffic in Long Beach tends to be much more manageable than in the City of Angels.

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What influences traffic in Long Beach?

While most of Southern California deals with severe congestion, Long Beach’s traffic is often milder—though not always a piece of cake. Traffic can be worsened by a few different factors, including the area’s population, citizens’ driving habits, and road conditions or infrastructure.

Here are a few elements that contribute to traffic in the Long Beach area.

Population size

Around 467,000 people call Long Beach home—and an estimated 90% of them rely on cars as their primary transportation to and from work. With a steady flow of commuters in and out of Los Angeles and beyond, roads like Pacific Avenue, Artesia Freeway, and Pine Avenue can get pretty backed up.

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Traffic patterns

Traffic in Long Beach usually runs east and west, while the larger region’s traffic runs north and south. This bodes well for you if you live and work in Long Beach, but commuters traveling north and south will likely get stuck on the major interstates, like I-110 or I-710. Everywhere in SoCal experiences some level of rush hour traffic, though—including Long Beach.

Driving habits

According to a recent study, Long Beach was ranked as the 17th worst U.S. city for speeding. When drivers don’t follow the traffic rules of an area, more pile-ups, accidents, and traffic jams occur.

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How to navigate Long Beach traffic like a pro

Heavy traffic causes major delays and major stress—not to mention it also increases your risk of getting into a car accident.

Long Beach has an unusually high number of speeding-related traffic deaths. Between 2005 and 2017, about 40% of traffic deaths in Long Beach were due to speeding—much higher than the national average of 27.7%. Even non-fatal accidents are sure to cause significant damage—to your body, car, and maybe even your car insurance rates.

This doesn’t mean you’re stuck sitting in Long Beach traffic, though. Here are a few suggestions on navigating Long Beach with fewer headaches, so you can protect your sanity and your wallet:

Avoid rush hour when possible. Long Beach’s peak rush hours are between 8 am and 9:30 am, then from about 4 pm to 8 pm. There’s no way to avoid all traffic in SoCal, but avoiding peak times is a good place to start.

Use a traffic app to stay up to date. Traffic apps like Waze provide up-to-date traffic information, including traffic jams, accidents, construction spots, and other days. If the congestion gets too bad, you can choose a different route.

Be alert. Sitting in traffic is nobody’s idea of a good time, so it can be easy to zone out—but it’s crucial to stay focused at all times when driving. Avoid

driving distractions

like snacks, loud music, or your phone. Also, be sure to leave plenty of space between your car and others!

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Prepare for Long Beach traffic by updating your car insurance

Whether you mainly drive in the Long Beach area or you’re a daily commuter to LA, it’s crucial to have a solid

car insurance

policy. More traffic leads to more accidents, so make sure you’re covered for the unexpected.

If you’re sitting in traffic half the day, the last thing you want to do is take time to comparison shop—and that’s why

Jerry

exists. The Jerry app takes policy shopping to the next level: just download the

trustworthy super app

, fill in your information, and see your most affordable rates in 45 seconds or less.

The sign-up process is just as simple. With Jerry, you can switch policies in just a few minutes! And we know your time is valuable, but did we mention that you could save money, too? Jerry users save an average of $887 a year on coverage!