Commuter's revenge

A commuter in the US has taken his revenge for three decades' worth of traffic jams - by blowing up the bridge that made his daily journey misery.

From 312 wonderfully terrible entries, the commuting stories of 20 finalists were
vetted by a panel of five traffic reporters, who named Dan Ruefly as the individual who had the toughest time crossing the original Wilson Bridge.

It was a well-known traffic blackspot on the huge 10-lane beltway that circles the capital. But at midnight Mr Ruefly flicked the switch that brought it crashing down.

Tonnes of explosives blew the bridge into pieces, making way for a new, higher bridge, double the width, which should end the massive tailbacks.

Mr Ruefly was picked for the job as he was judged to have had the worst commuting experience there.

Not only did he spend three hours a day sitting in traffic, largely thanks to the bridge, but it nearly cost him his life. The ambulance taking him to hospital after a serious car accident got stuck there and he almost died.

He said he did not bear a grudge against the bridge but it was truly an honour to be responsible for it going up in smoke