Cars
5 Of The Worst Traffic Jams In History
Sarah Zhang 14 January 2014 3:00 PM
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When not being used for poorly thought-out political revenge, traffic jams are making the lives of commuters suck on a daily basis. But sometimes, bad traffic can get
spectacularly bad — even worse than fake traffic study bad. In honour of those times, we’ve collected some of the worst traffic jams in history.
And these spectacularly bad traffic jams? They could become become an everyday occurrence. According to the
US Travel Association, a number of highway corridors could reach Labour Day-like traffic congestion on a regular basis in the next 20 years. Our love affair with cars turning into nation-wide pileup stretching from sea to shining sea.
Sao Paulo, Brazil — November 2013
Traffic backup in Sao Paulo by AP/Agencia Estado
Already dubbed the city with the
world’s worst traffic jams, the Brazilian city recorded its longest traffic jam ever last November, stretching out over
192 miles. The city regularly gets 100 mile-plus traffic jams on Friday evenings, but this Thursday, before a holiday weekend, really pushed traffic over the top.
The traffic in Sao Paulo has taken on a culture of its own: People read, shave, put on make up, and watch movies right in the car. One woman
even met her husband during a traffic jam: “‘I was with a friend in my car and he was in his car also with a friend. In the stop and go of the traffic jam we started driving side by side and then he started looking at me,’” says [Fabiana] Crespo. After some flirting through the car windows, Mauricio managed to convince Fabiana to give him her phone number. He called, and an enduring love story began.” What’s remarkable is that traffic has created a roving bar or coffee shop of sorts, inching oh-so-slowly along the highway.