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Accidents, holidays or the weather always lead to huge traffic jams. Sometimes up to 176 kilometers or even 12 days.
In front of the Gotthard, the cars have temporarily moved over the Pentecost weekend dammed over a length of over 20 kilometers. For countless travelers it meant rolling at walking pace, stopping again and again and waiting for a long time. But a look into the past shows that things can get much worse.
28 kilometers of Whitsun traffic jam on the Gotthard, 2018
As a result of the closure of the San Bernardino Tunnel after a bus fire, there was a record traffic jam on Switzerland’s most important north-south axis in 2018. The waiting time was at times around five hours.
The column reached its record length on Saturday afternoon – the 28 kilometers corresponded to the longest Gotthard traffic jam since 1999. At that time, there was also a traffic jam of the same length at Pentecost.
53 kilometers of traffic chaos between Solothurn and Bern, 1995
There has never been such a long queue of cars in Switzerland as on February 25, 1995 on the N1 motorway, now known as the A1. Cars were jammed for 53 kilometers between Bern and Niederbipp.
On the one hand, the reason was the traffic congestion due to the simultaneous start and end of the winter sports holidays in numerous cantons. On the other hand, a number of rear-end collisions occurred on the rain-soaked road, which sometimes led to chaotic conditions.
12-day traffic jam near Beijing, 2010
Trapped in a traffic jam that was around 100 kilometers long – for an incredible twelve days. This is what happened to travelers in August 2010 on a highway from western China towards Beijing.
The cause of this constant traffic jam was neither a closure nor a natural disaster, but simply the large number of vehicles. According to media reports, heavy trucks carrying construction materials were particularly responsible for the traffic jam.
135 kilometers of travel and storm traffic near Osaka, 1990
According to media reports, thousands of cars were jammed on a highway between Hyogo and Shiga prefectures in western Japan on August 12, 1990. The column reached a maximum of 135 kilometers.
As is often the case, a public holiday was the trigger for the high volume of traffic. Namely Japan’s annual Bonfest, where deceased ancestors are honored. For many, this is a reason to get together with family and relatives.
160 kilometers of traffic chaos after a storm warning in Texas, 2005
As Hurricane Rita headed toward Houston, millions of Texas residents were urged to seek safety. In September 2005 that meant dense crowds on Interstate 45 and a traffic jam of around 100 miles.
The traffic jam reportedly lasted up to 48 hours. Although the mass evacuation led to this gridlock, it probably saved numerous people.
176 kilometers of ski holiday traffic jam between Lyon and Paris, 1980
According to the Guinness Book, the world record for the length of a continuous traffic jam is not that far from Switzerland: it was 176 kilometers between Lyon and Paris in February 1980. Winter holidaymakers returning from the French Alps encountered bad weather.
Also a major traffic chaos and definitely historic: on April 12, 1990, according to the Guinness Book of Records, a traffic jam of 18 million cars was reported at the German east-west border. It was the first Easter after the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989.