Top 10 longest traffic jams in the world in which cars stood for several days

Every person who buys a car should prepare for the fact that they will have to stand in traffic jams. This is inevitable, and it doesn’t matter where you live: in the capital or a small provincial town. Of course, traffic jams will vary in time and length. 15 minutes of waiting, which for a provincial driver will seem like an eternity, a Muscovite will not even notice. In any case, delays along the way are always very unpleasant.

Sometimes there are such force majeure situations when you have to stand in traffic jams for more than an hour or two. Day, two – this is not the limit. Below is a ranking of the longest traffic jams in the world. Perhaps with the help of this article you will be able to understand that not everything is so bad in your city, and learn to be more calm about troubles on the road.

10 Beijing (China) – 16 km

The bug arose in 2015. She made a lot of noise. Articles appeared in the media about a 50-lane road on which a traffic jam arose. And photos were attached.

In fact, everything was not so scary. Congestion formed at the entrance to Beijing, on the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau highway. They celebrated the National Day of the country, everyone wanted to get to the celebration.

In total, there are 8 lanes on the highway, but before the checkpoint the road widens, and then sharply narrows. Drivers are trapped. Some were able to turn their cars around and drive in the opposite direction. The rest had to wait, for sure the “lucky ones” were no longer up to the holiday.

9. New York (USA) – 32 km

It turns out that 50 years ago the situation on the roads was no better. In 1969 on the New York freeway Music lovers have risen. A lot of people went to the rock festival. The traffic jam occurred in the area of ​​the small town of Bethel.

According to some reports, the number of people wishing to attend the music festival reached half a million. Surprisingly, the police stopped cars and warned drivers about the difficult situation, suggesting that they take a different route. Many did not listen to their advice, which they later regretted.

The participants in the movement spent about 3 days to reach their destination. The musicians had to be transported by helicopter.

8. Pennsylvania (USA) – 80 km

American drivers have become hostages of the snow element. On February 15, 2007, adverse weather caused I-78 to be blocked.

Pennsylvania literally covered in snow. In the shortest possible time, the supply of snowplows was organized, but there were many accidents, so it was not possible to clear the road quickly. Drivers were stuck in traffic all day.

7. The border of East and West Germany – 95 km

Germany was divided by the Berlin Wall for a long time. Residents did not have the opportunity to move freely, the country was divided East and West German border. In 1989 they were merged and the Berlin Wall came down.

Happy residents decided that now they can freely travel around the country. But no one thought that there would be too many applicants. On April 12, 1990, a huge traffic jam formed. It is considered one of the largest in terms of the number of cars – 18 million. Usually the number of cars passing on this road did not exceed 500 thousand.

6. Tokyo (Japan) – 135 km

Tokyo considered the most populous city in the world. The appearance of traffic jams no longer surprises anyone. Although, all this is in the past. Now, the situation has improved, thanks to the new rules. For example, in Japan it is forbidden to park along roads. But in the 90s the situation was not easy.

In August 1990, a traffic jam formed of 15 cars, its length was 135 kilometers. There were several reasons for the traffic jam: the onset of a typhoon, the end of the holidays, and, of course, the narrow streets.

5. Houston (USA) – 161 km

Sometimes extreme conditions become factors provoking the appearance of traffic jams. In September 2005, it was reported that the state of Texas was in danger: Category XNUMX Hurricane Rita was approaching. People, trying to save their lives, began a mass evacuation.

Soon, the I-45 highway was blocked. The length of the traffic jam is 161 kilometers, the duration is two days. Despite numerous inconveniences, people in Houston understood that all this was not in vain.

A large number of lives were saved thanks to the evacuation. People were in a panic, weather conditions (temperature of 37 degrees Celsius and strong wind) heated up the situation even more. Only thanks to the coordinated actions of the police, the road was cleared.

4. Lyon-Paris (France) – 175 km

This traffic jam was formed by happy rested French people in 1980. They were all on their way to Paris from their winter country houses. The holidays are over, it is time to return home, but the weather conditions have deteriorated sharply.

Heavy fog has caused many accidents on the highway Lyon-Paris. Cork length of 175 kilometers even hit the Guinness Book of Records.

3. Moscow – St. Petersburg (Russia) – 200 km

In 2012, Russian drivers had to get nervous. Motion on the highway M10 Moscow-St. Petersburg became paralyzed. It happened on November 30, the weather conditions were not the best: snow and rain, strong wind. Such weather did not frighten drivers, for which they paid.

Another reason was the inconsistency of the actions of the road services and the traffic police. Snowplows could not help, also stuck in a traffic jam. Drivers had to wait three days, after this time the situation stabilized. Along the road, tents were set up where one could drink hot tea. Drivers were also assisted by psychologists.

Interesting fact: This cork is not included in our rating, but it is impossible not to mention it. The longest traffic jam in Moscow was recorded on December 25, 2015. People were intensively preparing for the holiday, as a result of which a 60-kilometer-long traffic jam formed on the Moscow Ring Road.

2. Beijing-Tibet (China) – 260 km

This traffic jam was formed in 2010. August 14 on the Beijing-Tibet highway scheduled maintenance work has begun. The movement has slowed down. Soon the situation became even more aggravated, because the route is of great importance for the coal mining industry. At that time, about 17 thousand trucks with coal passed through it daily.

Several accidents, and by August 23, the traffic jam stretched for 100 kilometers. Then it got even worse. By the end of the month, a part of the route was “standing”, the length was 260 kilometers. 400 policemen kept order in the traffic jam.

Many drivers could not stand it, abandoned their cars and got home on foot. The situation on the road stabilized only in September, when the repair work was completed.

1. Sao Paulo (Brazil) – 292 km

In 2009, all records were broken. San Paolo always famous for traffic jams and congestion. Residents have long been accustomed to spending a lot of time on the road. But the situation that occurred on May 8 brought a lot of inconvenience even to those who are calm about long expectations.

Residents tried to leave the city to celebrate a religious holiday (more than 3 million people). Several car accidents have led to the fact that a third of all city highways “stood up.”

Now the situation on the road has not improved, the residents of São Paulo are still suffering in traffic jams. Because of this, the prices for delivery services and taxis are very high. But the helicopter business is developing in the city.