Longest you've sat in a traffic jam?
Discussion
Goign on from a thread on Speed and Plod forum of a closure on a Motorway due to a lorry catching fire. People were stranded for hours, not moving and made me wonder how long have you waited without moving on a motorway and what did you do to pass the time?
Luckily, In Scotland we dont have HATO's closing motorways all the time but 2 years ago i the summer a lorry's trailer came off and was blocking the carriageway. I slept for nearly 2 hours while the trailer was turned and moved. The boys in the van next to me got out and sat on the crash barrier.
Thankfully iPhones are here now and help in these situations
Luckily, In Scotland we dont have HATO's closing motorways all the time but 2 years ago i the summer a lorry's trailer came off and was blocking the carriageway. I slept for nearly 2 hours while the trailer was turned and moved. The boys in the van next to me got out and sat on the crash barrier.
Thankfully iPhones are here now and help in these situations
3 hours to drive about 4 miles down the A1 on the day GTA3 was released in the UK. A lorry carrying sheep overturned and the wooly captives made a break for it - in no particular direction, except all over the road. I wasn't driving (being about 11), but I remember the crushing agony of waiting in that queue of traffic. Thankfully I had my copy of GTA3 on order so I knew it was only a matter of time until I got my grubby mitts on it.
Around 1990 or 1991, I picked up a Hartge E30 Touring, my new pride and joy. Left Leicester at 9am to drive home to Shrewsbury, via the M6, on a Saturday morning. I got as far as J3 and the heavens opened, dumping around 6 inches of snow. Lorries jack knifed and blocked the M6, so all came to a complete standstill.
Didn't move for around 4 hours, and we all eventually left our cars and headed for the nearest pub, just off the motorway.
It was all a bit surreal , as it also happened to be the weekend of the Crufts show at the NEC, so people were walking dogs up and down the outside lane.
There was one lane open Southbound, so after being stuck for 10 hours, we decided to take down the barrier in the central reservation, and one by one went south. I then drove to a mates house in Daventry and stayed the night. Eventually got home at midday the next day, so all in all it took 27 hours to get from Leicester to Shrewsbury!
Didn't move for around 4 hours, and we all eventually left our cars and headed for the nearest pub, just off the motorway.
It was all a bit surreal , as it also happened to be the weekend of the Crufts show at the NEC, so people were walking dogs up and down the outside lane.
There was one lane open Southbound, so after being stuck for 10 hours, we decided to take down the barrier in the central reservation, and one by one went south. I then drove to a mates house in Daventry and stayed the night. Eventually got home at midday the next day, so all in all it took 27 hours to get from Leicester to Shrewsbury!
I was stuck on the A74M just outside of Lockerbie for 12 hours when it became totally gridlocked because of snow in the 90s. All through the night the police were checking on us, (it must have been a good few miles of stuck cars and lorries), made sure we had blankets, hot drinks etc, and were taking the old folk and kids to shelter. Apart from the boredom it wasn't too bad.
ETA: that's 12 hours in one spot, not moving.
ETA: that's 12 hours in one spot, not moving.
Edited by Dixie68 on Sunday 28th November 00:42
christofmccracke said:
Got stuck for over an hour once after a crash on the fourth road bridge. Luckily I always keep a book/magazine in the car after years of waiting for tradesmen to turn up
Thats nothing !Last year there was an accident in Dec just before the start of the M9 spur and we were stopped for 2hrs 15mins.
Also it once took me 5pm-7:50pm to get from the Gyle to South Queensferry..
christofmccracke said:
Got stuck for over an hour once after a crash on the fourth road bridge. Luckily I always keep a book/magazine in the car after years of waiting for tradesmen to turn up
Wow, that must have been some time ago if it was only the fourth ever road bridge to be built! What were you waiting for? The fifth road bridge?! 
Edited by Garett on Sunday 28th November 00:50
6 hours near Bury St Edmunds trying to get home to West Yorkshire.
About 1 hour was my own fault which I never forgave myself for. After waiting for an hour in a queue I finally got to a roundabout and my sat nav advised that I took a particular exit. But this exit was blocked off due to roadworks and because I had already indicated to go into the left lane I had to take the next exit. This was the last exit so what I ended up doing was driving back on myself and looking at everyone else in the hour long queue that I'd just been in and then join that very same queue at the back again.
Grrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!
About 1 hour was my own fault which I never forgave myself for. After waiting for an hour in a queue I finally got to a roundabout and my sat nav advised that I took a particular exit. But this exit was blocked off due to roadworks and because I had already indicated to go into the left lane I had to take the next exit. This was the last exit so what I ended up doing was driving back on myself and looking at everyone else in the hour long queue that I'd just been in and then join that very same queue at the back again.
Grrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!
Nearly 7 hours about 18 months ago on the M40 when a tanker went over spilling fuel across both carriageways. Whole motorway closed, I got there just before 6pm and was only a few hundred yards back from it. Was told the tailback went back a good ten miles. Eventually it transpired that the authorities were turning people around and directing them back up slip roads and off the motorway, but they worked from the back of the queue forwards, so we at the front were sat until nearly 1am.
Luckily I had a brand new 5 series for that week...I suppose if you've got to sit around for that long there are worse cars to kick back and relax in.
Edited because I am incapable of typing a post without errors on the first attempt.
Luckily I had a brand new 5 series for that week...I suppose if you've got to sit around for that long there are worse cars to kick back and relax in.
Edited because I am incapable of typing a post without errors on the first attempt.
Edited by Doniger on Sunday 28th November 01:02
About 3/4 hours on M69.On the same night lot of years ago ( late 80's) that there was a nasty on the M6 near Corley and the fires from the crash burnt the carriageway .Kicked myself for not getting off a short distance earlier at J2 -saw the brake lights ,but thought it was due to the fog,not the motorway being shut.
sebhaque said:
Rather severe accident a few years ago, was travelling from Bristol to the Isle of Wight. Stop start traffic for 4 and a bit hours. Luckily the sex was worth it!
A rather severe accident and the sex was worth it? I hope the sex was consensual. A corpse cannot say 'no' but nor can it say 'yes'.Gassing Station | General Gassing [Archive] | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff