IELTS Cue Card 24: A Time When You Were Stuck In A Traffic Jam
IELTS Speaking Cue Card with Sample Answer. A Time When You Were Stuck In A Traffic Jam Cue Card. IELTS Speaking Part 2 With Model Answer.
Describe a time when you had to wait in a traffic jam
You should say:
- when and where it happened
- how long you were in the traffic jam
- what you did while waiting
- and explain how you felt when you were in that traffic jam.
Tips for answering this cue card topic:
Model Answer 1:
Traffic jams are very common now-a-days
Every person seems to own a vehicle now-a-days
The problem is worse in big cities like Bombay and Delhi
Traffic moves at a snail‟s pace during peak hours
Once I had gone to Jalandhar
On my way back I got stuck in a traffic jam
It was two days before Gurupurab, the birthday of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
A huge procession was going on
We call it the Nagar Kirtan
It was a 2 km long procession
There were hundreds of people on tractors and trolleys
On one trolley, the holy book of Sikhs, Guru Granth Sahib was there
People were paying obeisance to the book
Because of the procession we were stuck in the procession for two hours
It was very hot
We could not budge an inch forward or backward
Nor we could leave our car
All people around us were very restless
Finally we heaved a sigh of relief when the traffic started moving
Model Answer 2:
Well, traffic jam in our city is not unusual and the regular commuters often suffer from horrible congestion on roads. A recent study shows that around 20 hours of time is wasted for an average commuter each month in our city and that statistics depicts how heinous the traffic jam in our city is. While thinking about a time when I had to wait in a traffic jam, I could remember many such events and for this cue card topic, I will talk about a particular event when the traffic jam was so pathetic that I literally went mad!
It was about a year ago when I went to our national airport to see off a relative who would leave for the United Kingdom. On our way to the airport, the traffic was usual and we reached there in a taxi that took around 45 minutes. After I saw off this relative, I went to the nearby bus station to pick a public bus to return home. I got a bus within 15 minutes and in next 10 minutes the road traffic was good. All of a sudden the bus stopped at a traffic signal and it did not move for the next 20 minutes. People on the bus got anxious and they started talking about what happened. I got off from the bus to investigate what actually happened. I tried to talk to a traffic police but he was so busy that I could not even grab his attention. I got back to the bus and heard more bad news. Some passengers were talking about an accident and how that had created the deadlock on the route.
I bought a newspaper and waited next 30 minutes very patiently and was expecting that things would get back to its normal condition soon. However, it did not and I heard that many students have blocked the road as one of their classmates died because of the accident. Police and those students had a hot debate and they were adamant to leave the road until the bus driver who caused the accident was arrested and punished. It was a situation that would not be resolved soon and that’s why many bus passengers left the bus to get back to their home. I had to reach home and I heard that the alternative road was also blocked. I was quite furious at that time but had nothing to do. My cell phone battery was beeping to indicate that it will be turned off anytime and the distance was more than 2 miles to reach home. I decided to walk and then again waited for few more minutes. Thus two hours passed and at that time I left the bus to walk.
The walking experience was not that good. There were people everywhere and I felt stupid not to leave the bus earlier. I saw so many police officers and traffic police who were trying to handle the situation but I noticed things were getting even worse. Luckily I had no bag or anything to carry with me. Thus I walked for another 2 hours and finally I reached home quite exhausted and in awful condition.
Model Answer 3:
I come from (..say the city name…) and this city accommodates a large number of population. Due to this huge population and the increased number of public and private cars, the city often faces bad traffics.
The number of people living in this city, the cars they are using and the public transportation they need is higher than the number of roads. As a result, the traffic jam often occurs and people have to suffer. Another reason for the traffic jam is the unauthorised parking if cars in the street. People do not often follow the exact traffic rules and because of their sincerity, we often face the horrible traffics in the street.
The traffic jam in our city is one of the terrible things the city dwellers have to face. People get stuck on the roads and they have no idea when they would be able to reach their destination. Because of this jam, people often miss important schedules, students can’t reach school in time and the outcome is devastating. Because of the jam in the street people have to schedule accordingly and the total time killed in the street is simply a waste of time.
There are many steps which should be taken to reduce the jam in the street. First of all the people who are driving in the street should very strictly follow the traffic rules. The traffic control authority should more strictly apply the rules. The number of private automobiles is increasing rapidly. Many single families own multiple cars and thus increase the number of total cars driving in the street. The rule should be imposed on purchasing cars and the price of the fuel could be increased as well. The public transportation system should be improved so that people can travel on public cars. The city has more population than it can comprise and decentralisation of industries, offices and educational institutes can be another solution to this abhorrent problem.
Model Answer 4:
I also experienced such a situation recently when I was about to participate at a radio event organised by a local radio station. The event was supposed to be aired live and I was one of the key participants representing our own band. In fact, the radio event aimed to promote newly emerging band groups so that the mass people could come to know about the band groups and to praise their songs. The band group named – Dark Shadow is formed of five members and I am the vocal. It was set on the last night that I would attend the event as the other members were unable to make time. So, being the leader of the band, I had to take the responsibility to despite my reluctance.
Unfortunately, I could not reach the radio station in time and I had to wait for around two hours in the traffic jam. The auto driver tried to escape the increasing traffic but he could not do so. Though he tried to cross the main road using the narrows inner streets, he failed as the streets were too narrow to enter and again he had to join on the main road of the city. As a result, he got trapped in the jam perfectly that. So, I had to sit idly for two hours and by the same time I informed the issue to the radio authority who invited me. I urged them to reschedule the slot if possible for them and explained my real situations here. Initially, they said that it is not possible for them to shift the program on any other day but I tried to make them realise that I want them to hold the program on the scheduled day but a few hours later. I know it is difficult for a radio station to shift a program in any other slot, but they did it for me.
I felt worst on the day. Later, I came to know that the traffic congestion took place for a clash between two political parties while police had to control the situation. Some of the people also got arrested from the spots. So, the vehicles could not move easily and entering into the New Delhi streets became difficult for them. The radio authority also paid heed to my request as they might have realised about the real situation. So, they aired the program after I reached the station two and a half hour later after the scheduled time. But it was one of the worst experiences of my life.
Model Answer 5:
My office is located in Zhangjiang River Harbour, 20 km from my home, so I drive to my office every day. With the growth in living standards, the proportion of private car owners is progressively increasing during recent years and I always get stuck in a traffic, but I was impressed by one of them.
It was about half a year ago, I was driving from my office back to home as usual. When I was driving through Yangpu Bridge, which is the only way for me to pass, I was caught in a heavy traffic jam. The traffic slowed to a halt. Typically during my commuting time, half an hour or one hour traffic jams are quite average, but at that time I was stuck for about three hours. I almost fell asleep in my car on the main road.
I absolutely hate traffic jams, but I had no other option so started to listen to the radio. I switched the channel to the Shanghai traffic broadcast, through which I realised the reason for this traffic jam was a terrible car collision; several cars were involved. Eventually, the traffic was dispersed after about three hours. Although I hate traffic jams, I should be more patient during them, and if possible I should choose other alternative routes back to my home.
Apart from that, I believe this traffic jams could have been caused by reckless drivers, since they always illegally drive the wrong way and cut people up without turning the signal on. These drivers should be punished and educated because nothing is more precious than life.
Model Answer 6:
I was caught in a traffic jam and showed up late to a movie. I was stuck in a traffic jam on the way home from work. I listened to my favorite singer’s album almost two whole times.
One day I was tied up in a traffic jam on my way to an appointment in City Center. I got increasingly frustrated sitting there as my mind started replaying all the mistakes I made last week. The Longest time I got stuck in traffic was about a year ago. I am living in Beijing and the traffic jams are quite very normal for people living around. So one hour to two three hour traffic jams are quite average but i was stuck in a traffic jam once from 9 pm till 4 am. I slept in the car on the main road.
This is something I really hate. To get stuck in a heavy traffic. When I was still employed, I got stuck in a heavy traffic for several times. The usual 1 and a half hour’s trip to the office took me almost 4 hours and it was really traumatic. It was a Sunday, but I was caught in a traffic jam.
I was in the heart of the district of HaiDian. Rather than lose my cool and curse myself for having been at the wrong place at the wrong time, I was in a good mood
IELTS Speaking Part 3: Details Discussion
Similar IELTS Cue Card Topics
If you can talk about the cue card topic “Traffic Jam” you should be able to talk about the following IELTS cue card topics as well:
- Describe a problem that you face in your city.
- Describe a bad experience you recently had.
- Describe a thing that you would like to change in your city.
- Describe something annoying about the place you live in.