Drivers on the Beijing-Tibet Expressway got a little something that they hadn’t counted on from August 14: a traffic jam that stretched 100 kilometers and that has, thus far, lasted for nine days. Authorities have explained that the 100-kilometer jam was caused by an influx of cargo-bearing heavy trucks and complicated by road construction.
I thought I had seen some bad traffic in my time. I’ve lived in and visited cities that are notorious for it, but have never been stuck in anything that lasted more than a few hours – let alone a few days. I knew a guy who got stuck in one that lasted more than 14 hours in the Philippines once, nature called and he inadvertently exposed himself to a bunch of nuns, but 14 hours is a far cry from Beijing’s 216 and counting.
The thing is that the longer it takes, the more complicated it is going to become. What happens when people start to run out of gas, or worse, abandon their cars in frustration? How long would you have to sit in traffic before it became faster to walk to Tibet?
10 minutes is my limit before frustration sets in. 30 minutes and I’d be looking for a motel.
10 minutes is my limit before frustration sets in. 30 minutes and I’d be looking for a motel.
10 minutes is my limit before frustration sets in. 30 minutes and I’d be looking for a motel.
Wow that makes rush hour on the Cross Bronx in New York look like nothing.
Wow that makes rush hour on the Cross Bronx in New York look like nothing.
Wow that makes rush hour on the Cross Bronx in New York look like nothing.