traffic

—trafficker, n. —trafficless, adj.

/traf"ik/, n., v., trafficked, trafficking.

n.

1. the movement of vehicles, ships, persons, etc., in an area, along a street, through an air lane, over a water route, etc.: the heavy traffic on Main Street.

2. the vehicles, persons, etc., moving in an area, along a street, etc.

3. the transportation of goods for the purpose of trade, by sea, land, or air: ships of traffic.

4. trade; buying and selling; commercial dealings.

5. trade between different countries or places; commerce.

6. the business done by a railroad or other carrier in the transportation of freight or passengers.

7. the aggregate of freight, passengers, telephone or telegraph messages, etc., handled, esp. in a given period.

8. communication, dealings, or contact between persons or groups: traffic between the Democrats and the Republicans.

9. mutual exchange or communication: traffic in ideas.

10. trade in some specific commodity or service, often of an illegal nature: the vast traffic in narcotics.

v.i.

11. to carry on traffic, trade, or commercial dealings.

12. to trade or deal in a specific commodity or service, often of an illegal nature (usually fol. by in): to traffic in opium.

[1495-1505; earlier traffyk < MF trafique (n.), trafiquer (v.) < It traffico (n.), trafficare (v.), of disputed orig.]

Syn. 4. See trade.

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▪ 2003

      January 7, Northern Nigeria. A head-on collision between a bus and a minibus on a road near the village of Durbunde claims the lives of some 50 persons, many of them members of a wedding party.

      January 7, Near Dhaka, Bangladesh. A speeding bus overturns and lands in a water-filled ditch; nearly 30 persons are believed killed.

      February 13, Eastern Saudi Arabia. A collision between a bus and a truck on a road near the Saudi–United Arab Emirates border claims the lives of some 40 persons and injures 10. The bus was carrying Muslims to Mecca on the annual pilgrimage known as the hajj.

      Mid-February, Peru. At least 38 persons die in separate traffic disasters. A bus traveling to Desaguadero in the south of the country overturns, killing at least 23 persons. In the northeastern province of Ancash, a truck overturns, killing 15.

      February 19, Chitwan, Nepal. A passenger bus en route from Kathmandu to Dhankuta falls from a highway into a stream; at least 40 persons perish.

      March 13, Chincha, Peru. A bus runs off a rain-slicked highway, crashes into a gas station, and explodes in flames; at least 35 persons die.

      April 12, West Bengal state, India. A high-speed collision between a truck and a bus claims the lives of 21 persons and injures 15.

      April 23, Central Russia. A steamroller falls from a truck onto a bus that the truck is passing; at least 15 persons on the bus are killed.

      April 26, KwaZulu/Natal province, S.Af. After one of its tires bursts, a bus overturns and rolls down a cliff; at least 22 persons die, and more than 45 are injured.

      May 26, Near Tacna, Peru. A truck loaded with passengers and farm produce experiences brake failure before crashing into a house and overturning; at least 21 persons perish.

      June 10, Near Masvingo, Zimb. A collision between a bus and a truck claims the lives of at least 36 persons, most of them students.

      June 11, Rutana province, Burundi. A United Nations-chartered truck transporting Burundian refugees home from Tanzania crashes after running off a road; 41 persons die, and 40 are injured.

      Mid-June, Northern Egypt. Two trucks collide on a highway between Cairo and Alexandria; 19 persons—all of them farmworkers on their way to pick apricots—lose their lives, and 49 are injured.

      June 30, Western Hungary. A bus carrying tourists from Poland to visit a Roman Catholic shrine in Bosnia and Herzegovina overturns at a roundabout, killing 19 persons and injuring 32.

      Early July, Near Jember, East Java, Indon. A driver loses control of a bus after one of its tires blows out, and the bus falls into a ravine; at least 26 persons are killed.

      July 18, Western Uganda. A collision between a runaway fuel truck and a passenger bus near Lutoto claims the lives of at least 60 persons.

      August 6, Near Zinapecuaro, Mex. A bus crashes into a bridge after its brakes fail; 33 persons die.

      August 18, Central Russia. Brake failure causes the driver of a bus to lose control of the vehicle; 24 persons die as the bus plummets into a ravine near the village of Yantikovo.

      August 22, Western Nepal. While attempting to pass another vehicle, a bus leaves the road and falls into the Trishuli River; 45 persons are believed dead.

      September 15, Catamarca, Arg. A bus loses its brakes on a mountain road and plunges into a gorge; at least 50 persons are killed and 25 injured.

      November 20, Near Jabalpur, India. A bus overturns, and two gasoline-filled containers on board ignite a fire; 30 persons are killed, and 26 are injured.

      November 24, Quezon province, Phil. While rounding a sharp downhill curve, a bus crashes through a railing and plunges into a ravine; at least 33 persons perish.

      December 2, Chiapas state, Mex. A bus crashes on a mountain road near San Cristóbal de las Casas; 21 persons die.

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