Add a new nightmare to the list of history’s most infamous traffic tie-ups. Reuters reports China suffered one of the worst backups on record earlier this month on the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau Expressway, one of the nation’s busiest thoroughfares.
You might think holiday traffic over here might be bad, but imagine sitting amidst a sea of cars spread across no less than 50 lanes of congestion brought to a standstill for hours on end as hundreds of millions of revelers headed home at the end of Golden Week, which celebrates the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
While some reports noted foggy weather could have been a factor, a checkpoint officials added along the way reduced the 50-lane expressway to only 20 lanes of traffic. One doesn’t have to be a math whiz to figure that’s a formula for trouble. Traffic was reportedly backed up for hours, though to the credit of the Chinese people, we could find no associated reports of road rage-induced violence among gridlocked motorists. We can only assume whoever was responsible for the artery-clogging checkpoint is now looking for a new job, however.
And this is not even close to being either the world’s worst highway congestion, or the most onerous to occur within China. Back in 2010, a brain numbing 62-mile backup over the Beijing-Tibet expressways lasted for an incredible 12 days and by all accounts earned a place in the traffic jam hall of shame.
We’re featuring a look back at what are arguably the 10 other worst tie-ups of all time from across the globe in the accompanying slideshow. All are epic standstills for which commuting became camping and roadways were reduced to parking lots.
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