Hitting the roads to spend the four days of the Eid al-Fitr religious holiday once again proved to be an ordeal for motorists and passengers alike, as traffic snarls frustrated thousands for hours.
Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, will start on Friday, but an official four-day holiday begins on Thursday. People tacking on their annual leave to the holiday secured almost a week of vacation, and began heading to resorts or their hometowns for Eid.
Traffic came to a halt on main roads on Wednesday and Tuesday, especially in Istanbul and other large western cities, which contain a huge population of migrants from the country's other cities and regions. A section of the Trans-European Motorway (TEM) in the northern Turkish city of Bolu was the scene of massive congestion yesterday.
The section that connects the country's West to Eastern and central Turkey, saw thousands of cars stuck for hours in frustrating traffic. Vehicles advanced at a snail's pace at times with occasional minor accidents and broken-down cars adding to their woes.
Though many hit the road in the early hours on Tuesday, holidaymakers in Istanbul still found themselves stranded in traffic leaving the city, the most populated in the country.
Congestion will come to an end before Eid, but another wave of traffic jams in Istanbul is anticipated on Sunday with holiday goers returning home. The TEM highway, already a busy and dangerous route heavily used by trucks, will see an increase in traffic that day, experts warn. The highway spans the northern cities of Turkey, Istanbul and cities in the northwest.
Traffic police squads were deployed along the highway to prevent accidents, often conducting inspections to enforce traffic rules and discover any violations.
Some 7 million travelers are expected to hit the road to spend their vacation in resorts or visit their parents or children living in other cities during Eid al-Fitr.
Experts warned drivers to be patient and attentive so as to not cause accidents. According to statistics, most accidents occur during a trip's early hours or near the final destination. Experts list a number of measures for drivers to avoid accidents or minimize the damage accidents inflict, including wearing comfortable clothes, undertaking thorough maintenance of their vehicle before traveling and by avoiding heavy suitcases in the vehicle. Warning against driving while drowsy, experts urge motorists to take a 30-minute break every three hours while on long trips.
