lexis4u: Traffic

Interlinked Thematic Vocabulary Unit Nº 277 Version 3.

Main Definitions

traffic |n| the aggregation of things (pedestrians or vehicles) coming and going in a particular locality during a specified period of time.
"There's always a lot of traffic at this time of day."
"In the town centre, traffic was already building up as early as 3 p.m."
"The driver calmly navigated the heavy traffic."
"Traffic clogs the streets of the city centre."
pedestrian traffic / foot traffic |n| people coming and going on foot.
traffic jam / traffic congestion |n| a line of road traffic at or near a standstill because of road construction, an accident, or heavy congestion.
"It may cause a traffic jam or a tailback to the point of gridlock."
fine / mulct |n| a financial punishment for the commission of crimes, especially minor crimes.
crash / vehicle accident / wreck |n| an accident in which a vehicle hits something, for example another vehicle, usually causing damage and often injuring or killing the passengers.
"A girl was killed yesterday in a crash involving a stolen car."
"A car/plane crash."

Streets and Routes

avenue |UK| |n| in the UK, streets are usually called avenue.

street |n| paved part of road in a village or a town.

"She lives just a few streets away."

side street |n| a minor or unimportant street, esp one leading off a main thoroughfare.

roundabout |UK| / traffic circle |US| |n| a place where three or more roads join and traffic must go around a circular area in the middle, rather than straight across.

railway |n| a road composed of parallel steel rails supported by ties and providing a track for locomotive-drawn trains or other wheeled vehicles.

Streets and Routes Elements

lane |n| a division of road intended to separate single lines of traffic according to speed or direction.
"She signalled and pulled over into the slow lane."
slow lane |n| the part of the street where vehicles drive slowest.
"The bus was crawling along in the slow lane."
fast lane |n| the traffic lane for vehicles that are moving rapidly.
"Cars in the fast lane were travelling at over 80 miles an hour."
turnpike |n| an expressway, especially one on which a toll is charged.
"Ohio's section of highway 80 is called a turnpike , and they charge a toll to drive on it."
traffic sign / road sign / street sign |n| a sign erected at the side of or above roads to give instructions or provide information to road users.
signal |n| a piece of equipment that uses different coloured light to tell drivers to go slower, stop, etc, used especially on railway / railroads and roads.

Weather

weather |n| weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy.
fog |n| a cloud like mass or layer of minute water droplets or ice crystals near the surface of the earth, appreciably reducing visibility.
"We get heavy fogs on this coast in winter."
rain / rainfall |n| drops of fresh water that fall as precipitation from clouds.
"The rain had not stopped for days."
smog |n| mixture of smoke, gases, chemicals and fog.
"The city is covered in smog for much of the year."
snow / snowfall |n| atmospheric water vapour frozen in to ice crystals and falling in light white flakes or lying on the ground as a white layer.
"We had a light snowfall last night."

People

commuter |n| someone who travels regularly from home in a suburb to work in a city.
commuter belt |n| an area around a large city, from which many people travel to work every day.
"Motorists are being encouraged to switch to public transport."
"The window on the driver's side was open."
driver |n| someone who regularly drives, or someone who is driving a car, train, etc at a particular time.
"Car drivers now pay more than ever for fuel."
"The coach was badly damaged, but the driver was unhurt."
motorist |n| (usually plural) especially written someone who drives a car (used especially when talking about car drivers in general).
"Motorists who are caught speeding have to pay a heavy fine."
chauffeur |n| someone whose job is to drive a car for someone else.
"He was picked up by a chauffeur in a limousine."
trucker |US| |inf| |n| someone who drives a truck.
"Mexico has no limit on how many hours truckers can drive daily."
road hog |inf| |n| someone who drives dangerously, without considering the safety of other people on the road, for example by not letting other drivers pass.
"Some road hogs drive at well below the speed limit, because they want to use their mobile phones."
cyclist |n| a person who rides a bicycle.
"They are both very keen cyclists."