longest delay/traffic jam?
07 January 2003, 08:47 AM
#1
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Anyone got any good long traffic jam/delay on motorway stories?
Coming back thru france last saturday, we got stuck for *9 HOURS* on the peage. A little bit of snow and the whole motorway ground to a halt. We were within 30 miles of Reims when this happened, where were were supposed to be staying that night. In those nine hours we managed to travel *5 MILES*, eventually getting to the Hotel at 3 am, only to discover that they had given away our room, despite the fact that we had phoned to tell them of our delay. The cause? It seemed to be where the road went down to single file and rouind a sharp bend to merge with another motorway. This curve was covered in black ice and all the Mercs and BMs etc were sliding down the camber. This bit was actually quite amusing to watch as drivers spun front or rear wheels in desparate efforts to get away from the armco. We were in a (burrowed) Legacy Outback and drove round the bend like we were on rails. I did laugh just a tiny bit. I didn't laugh that much when we eventually got to the toll and were charged 20 Euros. The concept of consumer rights doesn't seem to have reached france yet. Apart from that we had a good time...
Charlie.
Coming back thru france last saturday, we got stuck for *9 HOURS* on the peage. A little bit of snow and the whole motorway ground to a halt. We were within 30 miles of Reims when this happened, where were were supposed to be staying that night. In those nine hours we managed to travel *5 MILES*, eventually getting to the Hotel at 3 am, only to discover that they had given away our room, despite the fact that we had phoned to tell them of our delay. The cause? It seemed to be where the road went down to single file and rouind a sharp bend to merge with another motorway. This curve was covered in black ice and all the Mercs and BMs etc were sliding down the camber. This bit was actually quite amusing to watch as drivers spun front or rear wheels in desparate efforts to get away from the armco. We were in a (burrowed) Legacy Outback and drove round the bend like we were on rails. I did laugh just a tiny bit. I didn't laugh that much when we eventually got to the toll and were charged 20 Euros. The concept of consumer rights doesn't seem to have reached france yet. Apart from that we had a good time...
Charlie.
07 January 2003, 10:06 AM
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Worst I ever suffered was 5hrs to go 14 miles on the M4 near Swindon three years ago. Some truck had the nerve to fall over, burst into flames and melt the carriageway, leaving only one usable lane London bound one day.
07 January 2003, 10:08 AM
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8 mile tailback at the fourth road bridge with the traffic at a standstill die to a crash on the bridge. Don't know how long it took to clear though cuz fortunately i was going the other way.
A friend of mine has had to take a 100 mile detour on a few occasions when the fourth road bridge and the kincardine (sp?) bridge have been closed due to bad weather. He only lives about 10 miles from work.
A friend of mine has had to take a 100 mile detour on a few occasions when the fourth road bridge and the kincardine (sp?) bridge have been closed due to bad weather. He only lives about 10 miles from work.
07 January 2003, 10:40 AM
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Google seems to reckon the record in the UK is:
"Longest recorded traffic jam - 40 miles - M1 between J16 and J18 due to 200 yard stretch of resurfacing at Hemel Hempstead (J8)"
"Longest recorded traffic jam - 40 miles - M1 between J16 and J18 due to 200 yard stretch of resurfacing at Hemel Hempstead (J8)"
07 January 2003, 12:00 PM
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Me and Denzil_Dog got caught in a big one on the M6 before J18 a couple of months back. Took us from about 8:30 til 1:45 to get from Knutsford Services to J18 then about 15 mins to turn around and drive back to Runcorn.