Black Saturday is the name given to the the Saturday in France that marks the busiest summer traffic day of the year. Despite history, millions of French drivers pick the last Saturday in July to start their vacation, and head south.
In addition to departing vacationers, the weekend is also the switchover for the French, when half the country returns home, while the other half head out on their own vacation.
This year was the worst ever – the French roads were clogged with just under 550 miles of traffic jams. This means that all major highways from the north of France to the south were one big traffic jam. This isn’t your average traffic jam either – there is no slow moving traffic here, just a complete standstill for hours at a time.
The main access roads into (and through) Paris were filled with 80 miles of traffic jams, and the wait for many of the major European tunnels was over 7 hours.
Combine this with weather in the 90’s, and you’ve got yourself one pretty ugly situation. It comes as no surprise that most drivers simply turn off their vehicle and step out of the car to socialize with others in an attempt to make the best of the bad situation.