Motorists in one of Chongqing's tollways were bemused to find that a camel was the cause of their traffic woes last Friday, Jan. 20. (Photo : Getty Images)
China is known for horrendous traffic jams along its major roads. One particularly bizarre incident, however, caused the ire of motorists in a tollway leading to Chongqing, when a camel because the cause of congestion last Friday, Jan. 20, after its owner declined to pay the toll.
GB Times reported that the owner, who goes by the surname Xiong, protested that he's not supposed to pay any toll fee for carrying a camel at the back of his lorry. He cited a law stating that livestock carriage entitles anyone to drive along tollways without having to pay toll fees.
However, as the toll staff insisted that he must pay up, Xiong briefly departed the area in frustration. He inexplicably left his vehicle with the camel at the back as he decided to go for dinner at a nearby eatery, causing a massive traffic jam in that section of the tollway.
The incident, which is out of the ordinary, obviously got motorists fuming. Pictures provided by Sina shows both the vehicle and the camel blocking the tollway exit, intended perhaps as a sign of protest by Xiong as he insisted on his right to toll-free access.
Towards, the end, Xiong had no choice but to pay his way out of the precarious situation. The toll staff indicated that the law he cited didn't include camels as among the livestock qualified for toll-free travel, hence making his insistence invalid.
Police came to the scene to force Xiong to render payment for using the tollway. They also compelled him to squeeze out a further $30 to compensate for his troublesome behavior, which led to the disruption of the daily commute in that part of Chongqing, one of China's densest urban cores.
Xiong regularly travels to make a living out of his camel, a Bactrian native commonly found in China's regions in Central Asia. He charges tourists to have their photos taken with the camel, but his recent debacle with the toll staff means that he may have to adjust his budget when travelling far and wide.
