Drives along American throughways (7)

I believe the answer is:

thrusts

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'drives' is the definition.
(I know this)

'along american throughways' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'american' could be 'us' (abbreviation for United States) and 'us' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for thrusts that I've seen before include "Sudden lunges" , "jabs" , "forces" , "Impels" , "drives" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.

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