World’s longest traffic jam stretched for over 100 km, lasted 12 days, it happened on…, the place is…
Wyatt Mason 
It was a once in a lifetime incident,
New Delhi: You must have experienced the pain and discomfort of being stuck in a traffic jam for hours with vehicles barely moving. Adding to the woes are the constant honking and the claustrophobic feeling which makes you feel like jump out in the open. This is one of the worst-case scenarios of commuting, a matter of few hours after which you eventually break the shackles and reach your destination.
This was one example of a traffic jam which is a usual occurrence across the world. But today we will tell you about one unique traffic jam that occurred in China. It was in every sense a serious, tedious, and tiring traffic jam where vehicles, drivers, and passengers were stuck for days, bumper to bumper, and yearning for the elusive destination.
It was a once in a lifetime incident when “World’s Longest Traffic Jam” was formed. World’s longest traffic jam lasted for 12 days and it is not hard to imagine what those poor souls would have felt. For 12 days, people were stuck in such a jam that the vehicles did not even move. Along with the vehicles, their lives came to a dead end.
This record making incident took place on August 14, 2010 in China’s capital Beijing on the Beijing-Tibet Expressway (China National Highway 110) when vehicles lined up to a stretch of about 100 km. Vehicles and people were confined for 12 days. As far as one could see, only vehicles were visible. This jam is the unofficial longest jam in the history of the modern world.
The jam was so long that people ate there and slept there on the road. It reportedly was caused by the trucks carrying coal and construction materials from Mongolia to Beijing for the Beijing-Tibet Expressway that was under construction for which the traffic was diverted to one-way due to the ongoing work on the expressway.
Those trucks blocked Beijing’s exit and it took the administration 12 days to clear it out but not before many vehicles were damaged, which caused a further delay in clearing the road.
Temporary houses were built along the expressway for the drivers and passengers and snacks, cold drinks, noodles and other food items were sold at four times the price. People were forced to buy water at 10 times the fixed rate.
To open the jam, the administration stopped traffic on this route. The trucks stuck in the jam were let go first. The administration worked day and night to evacuate the people trapped there and their efforts bore fruits when the world’s longest jam ended on 26 August 2010.
