The traffic jam in August of 2010 was only one of several symptoms of a lack of road access. The traffic jam continued for 12 days and covered a distance of 62 miles. What was the reason for the delay? Trucks carrying building materials to help alleviate traffic congestion were stranded at the Beijing exit. To make matters worse, people tried to benefit from the crisis by selling cigarettes and water. Some drivers were also robbed in the middle of the night, and one man was stabbed. ¹⁾

The traffic jam on August 15, 1969, lasted three days in a row. It was prompted by an unusual influx of visitors — 250,000 in total — to the Woodstock Music & Arts Festival that year. The traffic jam spanned about 17 miles. Some people finally abandoned their automobiles in order to enjoy “three days of peace and music.” ²⁾

In February 2011, 20 inches of snow fell in Chicago, which turned into a mid-winter blizzard by nightfall. Though rush-hour traffic was bad for almost all, some commuters had a particularly bad time. Drivers going north on Lake Shore Drive were forced to merge with traffic that had slowed and then stopped. They were stuck on the roads for about 12 hours, covered in snow that reached almost as high as the windshields of their vehicles. ³⁾

The Berlin Wall had collapsed in the spring of April 1990, which was a joyous occasion for German people but quickly turned into a traffic catastrophe. The main issue was that officials were unprepared for the collapse of the wall and the resulting sequence of events, as well as the Easter Holidays. The vast number of people caused a total of 18 million cars stuck in traffic! ⁴⁾

In 2016, 12 people died of dehydration on Java, Indonesia's most populous island. Most of the victims were elderly people (with the exception of a toddler) who were all stuck inside hot cars. During that week, temperatures soared to a scorching 86 degrees. Traffic was backed up for 13 miles with no room to move around, trapping drivers in their vehicles. People returned to the mainland after the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marked the end of the holy month of Ramadan, and the traffic jam lasted from Sunday to Tuesday. ⁵⁾