World’s longest traffic jam lasted for 12 days, stretched for 100 km, not in US, India, Europe, it happened in…
New Delhi: It is a given that almost every one of you has been trapped in a brutal scenario that the world calls ‘traffic jam’. And it didn’t happen once or twice but many times when you had to wade through endless vehicles at almost zero speed, losing your temper, cussing around with the choicest of expletives. This claustrophobic phenomenon occurs on a regular basis without fail. The frequency and durations might vary but it is something you got to adapt to.
Getting caught in a traffic jam is one of the worst-case scenarios of commuting, a matter of few hours after which you eventually break the shackles and reach your destination.
Today we will tell you about one traffic jam that occurred in China and it was in every sense a trial by fire for everyone involved. Vehicles, drivers, and passengers were stuck for days, bumper to bumper, and yearning for the elusive destination.
It was the once in a lifetime event, “World’s Longest Traffic Jam” that lasted for 12 days. For those 12 days, people were stuck in such a jam that the vehicles did not even move. Along with the vehicles, their lives came to a dead end on August 14, 2010 in China’s capital Beijing on the Beijing-Tibet Expressway when vehicles lined up to a stretch of about 100 km for 12 days. Wherever one could see, only vehicles were visible, making it the unofficial longest traffic jam in the history of the modern world.
The jam forced people to eat and sleep there on the road.
The jam was caused by the trucks carrying coal and construction materials from Mongolia to Beijing for the Beijing-Tibet Expressway that was under construction for which the traffic was diverted to one-way due to the ongoing work on the expressway. Those trucks blocked Beijing’s exit and it took the administration 12 days to clear it out but not before many vehicles were damaged, which caused a further delay in clearing the road.
Temporary houses were built along the expressway for the drivers and passengers and snacks, cold drinks, noodles and other food items were sold at four times the price. People were forced to buy water at 10 times the fixed rate.
To open the jam, the administration stopped traffic on this route. The trucks stuck in the jam were let go first. The administration worked day and night to evacuate the people trapped there and their efforts bore fruits when the world’s longest jam ended on 26 August 2010.
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