America is a huge country – 3,000 miles (4,827 kilometers) across the country from the east coast to the west coast. America is crossed by a complex system of highways which enables Americans to drive just about anywhere they wish to go. And these are special highways – they are always at least four lanes wide with a dividing median between the sets of lanes. Most other roads do not connect with the Interstate highways because they are constructed as “limited access” highways. To get on an Interstate highway, there is an entrance lane that allows you to accelerate to the speed of the highway traffic.
In the countryside, the highways look like this – notice the wide median (the grassy divider between lanes). The Interstates are built for speed – trucks and automobiles travel at 70 miles per hour (113 kilometers per hour). The motorbike that is so common in Việt Nam is unheard of in America, and only large motorcycles are allowed on Interstate highways.
In the city, the Interstate highway takes on a different persona – they get bigger, and are built
almost in layers. While still built for high speed travel, they often get clogged with too many cars, though you would not know it by this picture. If I took a picture at this same spot at 8:00 AM, my car would be stopped in the traffic of too many other cars trying to be on the roadway at the same time.
All those vehicles require fuel - and almost every exit off the Interstate highway has at least one 
place to refuel. (Remember – not all roads connect to an Interstate road) Because all those vehicles have drivers who get hungry, almost every exit also has places to eat. This place combines a restaurant with a gasoline station.
America’s lifeblood is carried by the Interstate highway system. Families use it to drive their automobiles on vacations and to visit families and friends. Business uses the Interstate system
too. Huge amounts of goods and merchandise are transported around the country on the big trucks known as “18 wheelers.” They are also named “tractor-trailers” because the front part of the truck is the engine and drive wheels designed to tow a trailer behind. There are large trucks in Việt Nam, but nothing like these behemoths.
The Interstate highway system is another manifestation of America’s culture of the automobile.