Cars queued up behind a parked van caused a traffic jam in Dublin yesterday

There was an unusual sight in Dublin yesterday. Passers-by were amazed to see a backlog of cars on South William Street, especially as it wasn’t a real traffic jam.

One car mistook a parked van as stopped traffic and waited behind it. More joined the line until there was a considerable delay.

One Reddit user, Rich131, posted a photo of the spectacle yesterday, taken by his friend.

"A friend of mine took this picture while walking through Dublin city this afternoon."

Many asked why the drivers didn't just go around once they realised what was happening, but Rich131 explained that there was no room to move and "it would take a 46 point turn to get out of the line".

"I think the first few cars have very little room to manoeuvre so they can't really do anything," he explained. "I think those further back don't know what's going on and think they're stuck in legitimate traffic."

The photo captured the minds of the Irish online, with many joking about the scene on Twitter.

A traffic jam in Dublin. Also known as queueing up behind a parked car pic.twitter.com/uQMj47VOsS

— Mark Hayes (@trickaduu) July 11, 2014

The chaotic traffic in Dublin won't be news to many. Today, navigation company TomTom announced that Dublin is the tenth worst city in the world for traffic congestion.

Are we surprised?

TomTom's ten most traffic-clogged cities

1. Moscow, Russia

2. Istanbul, Turkey

3. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

4. Mexico City, Mexico

5. São Paulo, Brazil

6. Palermo, Italy

7. Warsaw, Poland

8. Rome, Italy

9. Los Angeles, USA

10. Dublin, Ireland