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SITTING IN TRAFFIC and going nowhere fast is frustrating to say the least. It also has a negative effect on our physical and mental health causing tension and stress.
But when it comes to hours wasted waiting for the traffic to move, we don’t actually have it that bad in Ireland. No, honestly, we don’t.
The INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard ranks 38 countries according to the number of peak hours the average commuter spent in congestion in 2016.
Ireland comes in at a pretty decent number 25, with Irish motorists spending 23 hours a year stuck in traffic congestion, the same number of hours as French motorists.
But spare a thought for motorists in the world’s most congested country, Thailand, who spend on average 61 hours a year sitting in traffic. The US ranked as the most congested developed country in the world, with drivers spending an average of 42 hours a year in traffic during peak hours.
Here are the top ten most congested countries in the world:
Shutterstock / Meeh
Shutterstock / Meeh / Meeh
Thailand, 61 hours
Colombia, 47 hours
Indonesia, 47 hours
Russia, 42 hours
USA, 42 hours
Venezuela, 39 hours
South Africa, 38 hours
Brazil, 37 hours
Puerto Rico, 37 hours
Turkey, 34 hours
And the worst cities in the world for congestion?
Well, those commuting in Los Angeles spend a whopping 104.1 hours a year stuck in traffic – not even the blue skies and palm trees can make that any easier. In fact, US cities dominated the top 10 list of the most congested cities globally.
We get off relatively lightly in Ireland – although tell that to the people of Galway, our most gridlocked city ranking 61st out of 1,064 cities globally. Drivers there spend 43.5 hours a year in traffic.
Dublin drivers spent an average of 31.4 hours per year in congested traffic, followed by Cork at 24.5.
Sligo is next (19.9 hours), then Limerick (16.5 hours), Waterford (15.6 hours), Wexford (14 hours), Carlow (7.8 hours), Dundalk (6.5 hours) and Mullingar (5.5 hours).
Here are the top ten most congested cities in the world:
@john smith iv: I think the miserable, negative commentary first thing in the morning is a bit much……just my opinion. No need to comment if he doesn’t have any interest in the report.
@Valentine Kane: a miserable negative moany parent usually results in a miserable negative moany child! It’s time people knew that, some quite obviously don’t
@Marie Agnew: Sounds like the excuse of a miserable negative moany teacher to me. I know a lot more people whose school life did a lot more harm than anything at home
As parents, staying connected and available to your children as they get older is a fine balance of letting them know they are loved, and loving them enough to give them independence and opportunities to grow and develop so they can live a healthy, free and productive life. If we shelter them from all problems and carry their school bag to the gate at age 17, that is unhelpful. If we throw them to the wolves at age 10 and say “good luck let me know if you need anything”, that is neglect. Finding a healthy balance takes a lot of hard work for many years, but the results are worth it and society will thank us for helping produce functioning and healthy adults.
“curriculum for wellbeing at senior cycle level” ? What does that look like? I had a 5th class teacher(a lovely nun, all girls school)who disrupted class one day to get us to say together “I am beautiful. I am beautiful…” over a few times. I don’t if the chanting improved our self image but it gave us a laugh anyway! laugher is the best medicine!
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