A group of motorists stranded on I-76 in Pennsylvania turned the headache of the standstill traffic into a communal steel drum and limbo party on the highway. A car flipped over in the I-76 eastbound lanes about a mile from the King of Prussia exit Saturday afternoon.
Motorists emerged from their bumper-to-bumper parked vehicles and gave new meaning to a traffic jam.
"It was better than being stuck in a snowstorm," said Justin Berk of Baltimore, who was en route to the Philadelphia Half Marathon. "I've been stuck in a lot of traffic jams and got out and people started talking to each other."
The result was a chance meeting of Berk and David Gettes of Trinidad North Steel Drum Band & Company. Gettes and percussionist Paul Downie were traveling from the Muhlenberg International Festival in Reading to Media when they got stuck.
Just after 2 p.m., Gettes pulled out his steel drum and played a pop-up set of island sounds for 15 minutes as motorists danced in a limbo line.
"We were struck in the traffic. We saw people around us frustrated. I know the magic of the (steel drum) instrument. It was not taking any toll on me to do that so why not," said Gettes.
Berk pulled out his camera to record the fun. He said the stranded motorists worked together to make the best of a bad situation.
