If you thought the gridlock on your morning commute was bad, get a load of some of the worldwide traffic jams people have endured. We may talk a lot about greening up the globe by encouraging cycling, walking and public transit, but people everywhere love their cars. More and more of us are driving, and roadworks simply can’t keep up with the ever-increasing demands. Throw a bad storm, natural disaster or national holiday into the mix and things often crawl to a standstill. Here are some roadways that couldn’t handle the flow, resulting in chaotic congestion that would make anyone trapped behind the wheel blow a gasket.
1. Beijing
They say 750 million travelers take to the roads on Chinese holidays like National Day and Lunar New Year, and the highways simply can’t take it. Even the colossal 2,273km long fifty lane Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau Expressway was clogged to a standstill during Golden Week this past October. The fifty lanes had to merge down to twenty to get through a toll, and the result was carmageddon.
