The English We Speak – Bumper-to-bumper

Helen
Good to see you, Rob. How was your holiday in sunny Spain?

Rob
It was fantastic: the sun, the beach, the sea, the food and the people… It was perfect!How about you? Did you manage to get away for the weekend?

Helen
We had a good start to our weekend at the seaside, but it was just awful on the way back.

Rob
Oh dear, what happened?

Helen
We decided to drive down instead of getting the train.

Rob
Good idea. Well with a car you can explore the coast easily. But the train can be less stressful.

Helen
The return journey was absolutely crazy. So many people going back to London after the weekend!

Rob
So the traffic was bumper-to-bumper?

Helen
Bumper-to-bumper? No we weren’t that close to the car in front. I know my Highway Code, at least a two-second gap between cars.

Rob
Well, I didn’t mean it literally! When there is a lot of traffic on the road and it’s moving very slowly or not at all, the front of one car is almost touching the back of another one, so it’s bumper-to-bumper.

Helen
Oh I see. Well it was like that, we were not moving at all on one stretch of the motorway. A 90-minute journey in the end took us 5 hours.

Rob
Oh poor you! It’s so frustrating, isn’t it? The expression bumper-to-bumper is heard a lot in travel reports on the radio. Here are a couple of examples:

Examples
Traffic on the northbound A12 near Greenwich Junction is bumper-to-bumper. Best to avoid the area if you can.

The approach to the Dartford Tunnel southbound entrance is bumper-to-bumper. Expect severe delays.

Helen
Thanks for explaining this. So it was bumper-to-bumper for us all the way home.

Rob
You got it. Maybe you will take the train next time?

Helen
I think I might. Or I might try to avoid the rush hour traffic.

Rob
Or you could stay at home.

Helen
Good advice Rob.

Both
Bye!