I always do that, but then people start changing lanes and get into my lane thinking its empty..... in a matter of minutes a dozens of cars get into my lane....
Simply widening roads can make the route more popular, adding more cars and the problem repeats, just on a larger scale. An education campaign on smooth driving would be much cheaper and more effective.
If you are a slow driver, then stay in the slow lane. Don't start trying to bypass the traffic in the slow lanes by driving in the fast lane, because you are driving so slowly that you will create traffic in the fast lane as well.
the more lanes you add though the more likely accidents are. It becomes quite the ordeal trying to move over 3 lanes when the morons on the roads ride bumper to bumper 15+km over the speed limit.
There shouldnt be a slow lane on a road/hwy thats supposed to be "faster" just dont drive on that road if youre not comfortable toing at least the limit
i was coming home from chicago today and the traffic on the I-290 was unbelievable and when i finally got out there was nothing cars were just going normally but it got me thinking why was there traffic? how does it happen why do people slow down? and this helped a lot i liked this video
I live in the 4th largest city in the US and believe me they have added extra lanes, widened lanes, added extra on and off ramps to nearly every major freeway, but the number one and two complaint about living here are always traffic and the heat. And its not just standard rush hour during the work and evening. I've been in 3 hour traffic here at 10pm at night on a weekend with no events, no construction, no blockages on the road. It's like what is this...really?!? There are just far too many people/cars on the roads and not enough people actively paying attention to actually driving.
@@misamagana2875 did that for a good ten years...but now I just want to be able to come and go when I want and not have someone coughing on me. So traffic it is.
Yes, but they are selfish and even dare to accuse others of driving too fast and being unsafe. They believe that when they brake, because it looks like something dangerous might happen, when in fact everything is normal, they are safe drivers
It's really simple to explain... Too many people have a me first attitude and jam up the road trying to get ahead of everybody else, making others angry enough with their behavior to block them, then everybody comes to a stop. Maybe if we all left about fifteen to thirty minutes of extra time for driving, they would not experience this problem and road rage would go down.
When cars start driving slower on the highway, the slowest drivers on the right all rush to the fast lane on the left, maintaining their slow speed and creating traffic
@@moonchild752 If you are a slow driver, then stay in the slow lane. Don't start trying to bypass the traffic in the slow lanes by driving in the fast lane, because you are driving so slowly that you will create traffic in the fast lane as well.
@@frankprior9376 Exactly that’s what people do in my city and then they get mad when I beep at them because why are you going 60 in the fast lane when you could be in the middle or right lane. People know why people and beeping and still go slow and then I wonder why accidents happen and traffic happens.
Has it ever occurred to you that the only reason you're not able to go around the "joyrider" easily and safely is that they're keeping up with flow of traffic while you're trying to *disrupt it* for your own personal benefit? Let's say this person is driving 45 in a 55 while you're doing 70 in a 55 (because, to people like you, the speed limit is a mere _suggestion_ ; that is, until someone goes under it. Suddenly the speed limit becomes this thing of utmost importance. But I digress) If you're going 70 in a 55 that means you have 3 secs or 7 car lengths to notice the person doing 45mph. Why is 3 secs (or 7 car lengths) not enough for you to get around the "joyrider"? I'll answer that for you, because people like you tend to lack the introspective skills to see how dangerous, obnoxious, and bad their driving is: - You're used to riding very closed to people's bumpers or making late lane changes. So you wait till you're a car length away from the "joyrider", sometimes even less, to realize that you need to get around them. By this time, you can't slow down/adjust your speed quickly enough to match the flow of the adjacent lane, so you either end up being stuck behind the "joyrider" (for those who have at least a modicum of consideration for others) or decide to cut into the adjacent lane nonetheless, panicking the driver you're cutting off. While you perceive the person in front as the cause of your woes (going back to the lack of introspection mentioned earlier), this non-problem would have been easily avoided if you were as good a driver as you expect the "joyrider" to be. 1. Were you keeping up with the flow of traffic people like you typically accuse _left lane hogs_ of disrupting, you would preemptively not being going so far above the speed limit, because adjacent lanes typically travel at no more than 5 over the speed limit. 2. By not going so far above the speed limit, and by keeping up with the flow of adjacent lanes, the speed differential between you and the adjacent lane would be small enough to facilitate quick, safe, lane change once you noticed ahead of time (3secs or x car lengths) that the "joyrider" was going slow. - The "joyrider" is keeping up with the flow of slower traffic. It's somewhat a variation of the previous bullet but needs to be mentioned on its own. Traffic in all the adjacent lanes is traveling at no less than 15mph under the speed limit; the left lane has some available space, but it would be unsafe to maintain the speed limit or higher since someone could pull out at any time, so the 'joyrider' decides to go at no less than 10mph. You claim they're going "slow", but (lacking introspection once again) never seem to realize that if you can't go around them, it's because the cars in the adjacent lanes are much slower than lead car - meaning that they're appropriately using the left lane. What would truly "help" is if people like invested in bettering their driving behavior, instead of perpetually pretending that everyone else is the problem. But the personality type that refuses to take accountability in other aspects of life is certainly also the personality type that can't take responsibility for their driving either, so we might be doomed for eternity.
Good explanation of the speed variables and much of it is certainly caused by human behaviors in driving. Road widening though is found to create induced travel demand and ultimately the road becomes more congested. We can’t build our way out of traffic and we really need to focus on providing viable alternative options.
It's actually much simpler. People like speeding up and stopping for that quick second to check their phone or something. When your on the highway and people are stopped in front of you. You should slow down as much as possible with out fully stopping.
The solution in general is to keep a distance between you and the vehicles in front at all times, it looks like you are wasting space to those that aren't aware, but they will leave the road or pass in front. This article (above) just exposes the behavior that permits a traffic jam to persist. What causes a traffic jam can be anything that stops the flow of traffic... I think part of the problem is psychological, I'm learning in other areas like overeating, people are driven to overeat because their natural animal instinct is to horde, in this case people will horde space because their brain is telling them they will get to their destination faster by hording space, but they aren't thinking, if they were they'd see that all the traffic ahead of them is moving the same rate or not moving.. In general, When people are doing things that are obviously stupid like trying to get somewhere fast by hording space, others need to be different, the difference causes people to think. It's best if the difference is well thought out, and encourages a positive behavior. Any difference though, risks distracting people, which might lead to people making errors.. Fortunately this behavior (leaving space in front of you at all times) will only distract people in a slow-moving traffic jam where there is less of a chance of a wreck causing a loss of life. You risk a terrible accident everytime you get in a car, but even more at high speed, and keeping space in front of you at high speed decreases the probability of that.. Also those who brake a lot, this method will save your brakes from wear. I advise keeping this much space: (speed / 10) * cars length.. Although I do tend to increase the space to 100 feet if I am near the exit ramp, so that those who need to get somewhere fast will take the exit and reduce congestion. In general, you have to just challenge yourself to think of a better solution to the problem. Being different is a start. If you strive to be like others, it's easy, but it isn't interesting, and you never realize much about the world. For some, it's a risk to be different, but the world doesn't change if you are afraid to change.
We have two eyes so we can observe the world from two perspectives, without these two perspectives on the world, we are unable to determine where objects are and more likely to walk into glass windows, mirrors, etc.. Keeping space in front of you in traffic also permits others to see that the reason the traffic is congested isn't your fault, but that the jam extends for miles, by distancing yourself from cars in front of you you permit your eyes to discern the space and make a decision of whether to continue on the road or exit, if you are smack-dab behind someone, you are no better aware than a blind sheep following the next-guys ass around.
Blender Naut In a limited access highway (interstates are an example), you primarily need two things to maintain throughput efficiency - 1.) spacing within the same lane and 2.) speed differential between lanes such that they're constantly sliding past each other allowing some flexibility for cars to get to the exit ramp from any of the lanes without significant impact to the cruising speed of any lane. This is typically expected as slowest on the right, then progressively faster each lane to the left. Each progressively faster lane must be passing the lane to the right productively (7-10 mph faster). You can think of it as each pair of lanes is the same as a two lane highway...pass productively and pass on the left to maintain the system. I think this would utilise our current infrastructure more efficiently by increasing the threshold of cars on the road before reaching gridlock.
Really nice comment, I know it has been 5 years so you probably won't see my comment, but I have always tried to fix this problem by leaving space, but cars keep switching to my lane, in just under a minute dozens of cars chang lanes to my lane. It is painful to live in a world made mostly of idiots ....
_"Keeping space in front of you in traffic also permits others to see that the reason the traffic is congested isn't your fault"_ Quiet as it's kept, this is one of the biggest reasons I loathe tailgating: you disrupt everyone else's ability to accurately read traffic ahead. Many times have I thought someone was driving "too slow", only to catch myself in the thought, take a breath, and find out that the person being tailgated was not driving slow at all: they were keeping up with traffic while the tailgater was not only being reckless, but gave everyone behind the impression that the person being tailgated was driving slow. @@kiernanholland
I see too many people just braking for nothing in particular. But the poor response time of human beings has an effect too. An average of a full second to respond, slowing down, put it from sixth to fourth, pulling up again. Where I live we have too many entrances and exists... also a major issue over here, and too many trucks... The autonomous car will solve it soon, but us Europeans have been too obsessed with gearing and turning.
There are several reasons for braking... Not looking at the road, and getting surprised by a slower car in front of you. A truck switching lanes and causing cars to break. An accident (also just the outcome of an individual not braking) And some are just slowing down more than necessary, which also causes traffic jam
1) Cars coming onto the highway ALL tailgating each other from the on ramp into the right lane where ALL the cars are tailgating each other in the right lane so cars have to brake suddenly because NOBODY leaves space in front of them for merging traffic. 2) people making unnecessary aggressive lane changes to try to speed there way through heavy traffic forcing people to brake suddenly to avoid getting hit by aggressive lane changers, who keep going back and forth between lanes. 3)GALKING at cop cars, accident scenes, cars in ditch etc.
it also doesn't help that everyone gets out at the same exact time and everyone has to take the same route home. So in reality, it's generally a combo of increased volume of cars, many people rushing to get home (speeding ) , shitty driving, and crappy roadways. Sadly you have a shit ton of cars all racing to get home, having to brake for those going the speedlimit or to cut across lanes causing others to brake as well. Then to boot, most highways or roadways aren't built to hold the current amount of traffic. So in the long run, it's better that people maintain consistent speeds that match the majority of drivers on the road, staggering shift end times really helps ( and certain states actually do this), reducing crazy driving and being prepared for exits and turns ( rather than cutting across three lanes, e.t c. ) and then lastly, the state changing the roadways to accommodate the growing traffic amounts. (hopefully in a smart way, instead of being like Connecticut and wasting billions of dollars and time to revamp an entire highway when really they could've just fixed the few problem spots ( mainly just widen a few spots and save a few billions of dollars )
When I see vehicles stopped on the freeway ahead I slow down as much as possible so that I don't have to come to a complete stop which mean I can accelerate faster and breaks the traffic jam cycle. Since I don't come to a complete stop the cars following me don't either making them able to accelerate faster as well. It also saves gas. I have often wondered why the high way patrol doesn't send out several squad cars to drive side by side and set a slower pace to allow traffic jams ahead to clear up. This would lessen the amount of traffic accidents because everyone behind the patrol cars would be moving at a constant speed albeit at a slower than the posted speed limit. I rather go 40 or 50 miles per hour at a constant speed than 65 mph for half the time and sit in stop and go traffic that just crawls for miles.
At its root, the situation is contingent on the number of vehicles on a road at a particular time. Large crowds of people slow down when too many are in a space that's too small to accommodate all of them moving at the same time. So too do herds of animals, like sheep or cows that get herded around and put through gates in fences. It's not JUST people stepping on their brakes, which most of the comments here are claiming.
Just make driver license test as hard as college entrance exam. I've lived in four different countries and 12 different states here in the US. Many people in all of those places do not understand the traffic laws or have any driving etiquettes. Get off your phone, don't drink and drive, and pay attention to the road.
Same as more drivers merging and change lane. They bumpers to bumpers that make crowded and jam and they made interstate Hwy become dead end by bumper and bumper traffic in the same lane
We have to get more pro-active about this. We can't just stop at "stay off the road" or "use a bicycle". We need to start incorporating science, technology, and outside the box thinking to this antiquated problem. Also, 100 years of Red light, yellow light, green light... seems a little regressive and asinine. Let's talk about ways of solving traffic congestion instead of talking about ways to cope with it.
+Tim Carter I agree with you. The bigger picture is that two many single people have cars, and not enough carpool together. Imagine if the roads of Los Angeles or New York city was replaced by a high speed rail system. This would eliminate traffic congestion and get people to walk more.
The problem is not related to technology or road transportation protocols. The problem is there are LOTS of people sharing the same path and the only thing we could do to prevent that is to increase the number of adjacent paths available (ie, increasing road throughput). Although in my opinion we already reached a point where the roads are big enough, the problem is there are just too many people...
Miguel Fonseca I agree with you in terms of population, but I disagree on protocols. We need to start having conversation with engineers, scientists, and outside the box thinkers to come up with solutions. I don't think we can simply keep throwing our hands in the air and saying "there's nothing we can do". I'm a small business owner and I network with other small business owners in my city, Portland Oregon. Traffic is so stifling now that we can't fit as much work into the day as we could even two years ago. Its not as easy as allowing yourself more time anymore. As a result you're working longer days and not making as much money which causes trickle down effects to your business and employees. Let's at least talk about solutions, is all I'm saying.
You're all idiots we need flying cars. Or some kind of personal solar powered gliders/jet packs. Think of how much faster we would get to work, and it would be stupid fun. Then if you want to take the car somewhere? Uh hello everyone is flying there's like no traffic
I agree. And to do this, people must drive at the average speed through the jam. What's the average speed? The one speed at which the volume of traffic entering the jam (or the zone where the jam would be) equals the volume exiting it. That's my understanding, anyway, but I'm no expert. Hmm... so it also seems that accelerating quickly out of the final wave of the jam (assuming it has waves,) helps improve flow.
Allowing people to change lanes lowers traffic. But when you brake hard to let them in, you are stupid. No one should be braking on the freeway unless some anomaly presents itself.
+1 for Kieran Holland, who is onto something with following space. This ties in with a skill used by better drivers, known as Acceleration Sense. Acceleration Sense is all about timing your approach to synchronise with the expected traffic movement. By slowing earlier from further back, a driver can minimise the drop in speed, and catch up with the traffic ahead already resuming speed...
then you have the idiots who change lanes to excape the slow or stopped lanes and they don't realize 100 other people had the same idea and they just stopped the other lane. then they are like oh the other lane is moving again so they move back and repeat the process
Seems to me that there is a sweet spot between smoothly flowing traffic and congestion. As long as traffic is moving smoothly, drivers will decide to use that road. If too many drivers are on the same section of road that cauaes congestion, some drivers will decide to avoid it or leave it. Then the volume goes down and the flow is improved to where drivers will get back on until it's congested again. If you add another lane or another road, within three years, it'll be just as congested but with more cars. So you can't fix it. The only thing you can do is work on the alternates like public transit and bike lanes. Enough commuters will quit driving for the alternates for congestion to hit that sweet spot.
Most drivers follow from below their reaction times, so whatever braking the driver ahead performs, the following drivers have to catch-up brake sub-sequentially harder.
how about get all those darn big heavy too much space taking tractor trailers off the road and put them on rail road tracks. Here in Toronto, we have a major issue with trucks as the 401 is considered the most busiest of all highways in north america
As a Trucker myself for over 2 decades, good grief sorry for delivering the food for you and your pets!!! Perhaps you would prefer to starve instead so you can get to your destination 10 minutes faster at best.
Make multiple level highway. The 1st level of 8 lanes is for local traffic and 2nd level of 8 lanes is expresses traffic. We can make the Skyscrapers 2,700 feet tall, but we can't make a simple 2 level highway? These engineers better get on the ball.
this doesnt explain what causes the car to stop in the first place, is it on ramps accidents, backed up exits or simply too many cars on the highway that the flow rate cant possibly go any faster
"So what can be done to prevent traffic jams? Roads can be widened." I guess Scientific American hasn't heard of induced demand. Roads can be widened but traffic will increase until congestion is just as bad as it was before widening. See urban planner Jeff Speck on freeway widening ruclips.net/video/A3T8vwJtgD8/видео.htmlm22s (3 minutes of content on induced demand)
In a limited access highway, this commonly occurs in the fastest lane during traffic volume (where you would least likely expect it as its intended primarily for through-traffic). It happens because people brake to jump off at the exit at the very last opportunity (aka the NJ slide) and combined with people following too closely which leaves no space (padding) to absorb this rapid change in speed. To further exasperate the issue, people do not accelerate into the void that was left when the person dove to the exit preventing a full recovery. Try to avoid making these mistakes and play into space instead of staying huddled...traffic doesn't function well as a herd of cattle.
Widening roads does not ease congestion there is compelling evidence that more roads and wider roads just lead to more cars on the road not more space for the existing cars
Adding lanes just increase the traffic, due to induced demand. Only alternative is to diversify your infrastructure and that everybody is driving at the same pace.
Didn't you miss the fastest and easiest option: Advise the front car(s) to accelerate faster ?!!! Essentially the queue 'starts' at the front car(s) !!
No. Can the driver in the back quit trying to drive faster than all the traffic up front? Yes because you CANNOT drive faster than the car in front of you!!! Tell me I'm wrong!!!
I believe that the solution is to provide Mass transit system. By providing circular railway type options within city the amount of private transport will decrease. I have tried to make a documentary (Title: Road traffic and public transport issues in Karachi Pakistan) regarding worst public transport and traffic issues in Karachi, Pakistan on my channel and came to this conclusion.
The traffic jam still remains a big problem because there is no validation on the color coding scheme which is no longer effective due to massive vehicles on the road, with too many private cars which occupy enough space than the numbers of buses and public vehicles on the road, before I was misunderstood by some engineering experts on their theoretical analysis they have learned but they had no clarity experience in which root causes and solution increasing numbers units of private and public utility, and on how to make a program because it was quote when nothing goes right then left, MMDA under the leadership of Gen Danny Lim did give me the chance to deliberately discuss the concept of the Ideas because of misinformation coming from my critics but for all you know the real solution to its traffic jam is a reduction of private cars which has it huge of volume registered at LTO about Nine Hundred thousand( 900.000) not including buses and etc which a total of Two Million Three Hundred Thousands 2.3M Lto registered on NCR but some have said that all units registered are not from NCR according to DOTR engr but they were not aware that these huge units of vhecles are in business here at the business center , some have parking lots of their owned and with buildbuild infrastructure it will double the vehcilec coming from the nearby provinces going to NCR the result with the opening of the classes in a jampack stressful situation will also be experince to with public communters MMDA because of their problems arises due to long time traffic jam. has made some noise called "Brand Coding" this was not expounded on how the mechanics will work to decrease the numbers of units through Brand Coding Reduction, If you come to think of the Brand vehicles is not a problem but we give a program of window hour and not by singling out one brand perday but the mixed brand in program system to control the huge volume, is what they can not get because it is new founded on my experience since when I was in High School and I noticed infrastructure do not make the solution to traffic jam, like in any other countries traffic jam still a big problem but only increase to the speed of your mobility to a long-distance journey,
Not a bad video but you forgot to mention tailgaiting, traffic jams would break up quicker if more people left a 3 second gap from the car in front of them.
Traffic will never ever end. People are HOPELESSLY stupid and beyond help. I’m just waiting for the big fuckin reset. People are their own worst enemy. Move away from big cities.
Economists and engineers have known since 1957 that widening highways does nothing to prevent congestion due to: #InducedDemand. "Scientific American" should have done better research before misinforming the public in this way.
If the flow of traffic is only restored when the incomming cars drop low enough to allow the lead cars to catch back upp wouldnt leaving a big gap and not breaking be a solution
They moved toward to other drivers in the front then they do not let traffic move forward and they do not let drivers change lane as well as merging. These crooks must discipline 6mons without driving including the promoters said more traffic we have dead end Hwy Crooks they are the tricky peoples
You never get same rate speed. Because there are drivers need help. But you must keep room stop apart plenty or driving slow variance speed plenty room apart with other traffic. Why you move closed to peoples lost speed up front as well as merging traffic or changing lane in peak hours
You are watch traffic and react right away why you react late then said traffic reaction too late for problems in peak hours and other season rain and snow or summer
The 500ft all time for slow for stop for increase speed or for drivers in between. You crook explained without 500 ft apart for those drivers it will jam road eay
![Stroads are Ugly, Expensive, and Dangerous (and they're everywhere) [ST05]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ORzNZUeUHAM/mqdefault.jpg)
Cause: Selfish drivers!!!!! Keep your speed constant, look/plan ahead and leave room ahead of you. Its not rocket science.
I always do that, but then people start changing lanes and get into my lane thinking its empty..... in a matter of minutes a dozens of cars get into my lane....
K V Exactly people honk me and go into the next lane just come back thinking it’s faster
You’re an idiot if you think that. It is physically impossible to avoid traffic jams.
wp@@hamidalrawi9723 ppp ps pppp pp.
I always thought it was just sheer volume but after my new career made me drive way more, I have to agree with the speed thing.
Like this you're sitting in traffic right now.
Literally me
My phone is on 1%
Simply widening roads can make the route more popular, adding more cars and the problem repeats, just on a larger scale. An education campaign on smooth driving would be much cheaper and more effective.
If you are a slow driver, then stay in the slow lane. Don't start trying to bypass the traffic in the slow lanes by driving in the fast lane, because you are driving so slowly that you will create traffic in the fast lane as well.
But traffic just JAMMED in the smallest space that fit a Car and 2 motors and JAMMED and my cousins dad got angry and fighted with idk
the more lanes you add though the more likely accidents are. It becomes quite the ordeal trying to move over 3 lanes when the morons on the roads ride bumper to bumper 15+km over the speed limit.
There shouldnt be a slow lane on a road/hwy thats supposed to be "faster" just dont drive on that road if youre not comfortable toing at least the limit
i was coming home from chicago today and the traffic on the I-290 was unbelievable and when i finally got out there was nothing cars were just going normally but it got me thinking why was there traffic? how does it happen why do people slow down? and this helped a lot i liked this video
I live in the 4th largest city in the US and believe me they have added extra lanes, widened lanes, added extra on and off ramps to nearly every major freeway, but the number one and two complaint about living here are always traffic and the heat. And its not just standard rush hour during the work and evening. I've been in 3 hour traffic here at 10pm at night on a weekend with no events, no construction, no blockages on the road. It's like what is this...really?!? There are just far too many people/cars on the roads and not enough people actively paying attention to actually driving.
That's a reason why public transport is necessary
@@misamagana2875 did that for a good ten years...but now I just want to be able to come and go when I want and not have someone coughing on me. So traffic it is.
They should teach this stuff in drivers ed.
You gotta keep going and never quit
Even if you teach that to the slower driver, they will still keep driving slow 🤷♂️
Slower drivers should void freeways
Yes, but they are selfish and even dare to accuse others of driving too fast and being unsafe. They believe that when they brake, because it looks like something dangerous might happen, when in fact everything is normal, they are safe drivers
I love when people tap the breaks and yet there is no one in front of them.....
I love the simplicity, it's straight to the point.
It's really simple to explain... Too many people have a me first attitude and jam up the road trying to get ahead of everybody else, making others angry enough with their behavior to block them, then everybody comes to a stop. Maybe if we all left about fifteen to thirty minutes of extra time for driving, they would not experience this problem and road rage would go down.
This would be ideal but I highly doubt it’s ever going to happen.
dirtybilly09 or how about people don’t joy ride in the fast lane
@@kashhen9409 what do you think the fast lane is for how about slow drivers get out of the fast lane you make no sense
@@moonchild752 you literally just said what she said and then said she makes no sense.
@@mattmills97 What do you think of joyrider is
It would help If people didn’t joy ride in the fast lane and go 1-10 mph under the speed limit
When cars start driving slower on the highway, the slowest drivers on the right all rush to the fast lane on the left, maintaining their slow speed and creating traffic
What are you talking about what do you think the fast lane is why are you talking about people who’s literally getting out of everyone’s way
@@moonchild752 If you are a slow driver, then stay in the slow lane. Don't start trying to bypass the traffic in the slow lanes by driving in the fast lane, because you are driving so slowly that you will create traffic in the fast lane as well.
@@frankprior9376 Exactly that’s what people do in my city and then they get mad when I beep at them because why are you going 60 in the fast lane when you could be in the middle or right lane. People know why people and beeping and still go slow and then I wonder why accidents happen and traffic happens.
Has it ever occurred to you that the only reason you're not able to go around the "joyrider" easily and safely is that they're keeping up with flow of traffic while you're trying to *disrupt it* for your own personal benefit?
Let's say this person is driving 45 in a 55 while you're doing 70 in a 55 (because, to people like you, the speed limit is a mere _suggestion_ ; that is, until someone goes under it. Suddenly the speed limit becomes this thing of utmost importance. But I digress)
If you're going 70 in a 55 that means you have 3 secs or 7 car lengths to notice the person doing 45mph. Why is 3 secs (or 7 car lengths) not enough for you to get around the "joyrider"?
I'll answer that for you, because people like you tend to lack the introspective skills to see how dangerous, obnoxious, and bad their driving is:
- You're used to riding very closed to people's bumpers or making late lane changes. So you wait till you're a car length away from the "joyrider", sometimes even less, to realize that you need to get around them. By this time, you can't slow down/adjust your speed quickly enough to match the flow of the adjacent lane, so you either end up being stuck behind the "joyrider" (for those who have at least a modicum of consideration for others) or decide to cut into the adjacent lane nonetheless, panicking the driver you're cutting off. While you perceive the person in front as the cause of your woes (going back to the lack of introspection mentioned earlier), this non-problem would have been easily avoided if you were as good a driver as you expect the "joyrider" to be.
1. Were you keeping up with the flow of traffic people like you typically accuse _left lane hogs_ of disrupting, you would preemptively not being going so far above the speed limit, because adjacent lanes typically travel at no more than 5 over the speed limit.
2. By not going so far above the speed limit, and by keeping up with the flow of adjacent lanes, the speed differential between you and the adjacent lane would be small enough to facilitate quick, safe, lane change once you noticed ahead of time (3secs or x car lengths) that the "joyrider" was going slow.
- The "joyrider" is keeping up with the flow of slower traffic. It's somewhat a variation of the previous bullet but needs to be mentioned on its own. Traffic in all the adjacent lanes is traveling at no less than 15mph under the speed limit; the left lane has some available space, but it would be unsafe to maintain the speed limit or higher since someone could pull out at any time, so the 'joyrider' decides to go at no less than 10mph. You claim they're going "slow", but (lacking introspection once again) never seem to realize that if you can't go around them, it's because the cars in the adjacent lanes are much slower than lead car - meaning that they're appropriately using the left lane.
What would truly "help" is if people like invested in bettering their driving behavior, instead of perpetually pretending that everyone else is the problem. But the personality type that refuses to take accountability in other aspects of life is certainly also the personality type that can't take responsibility for their driving either, so we might be doomed for eternity.
“Google can build driverless cars” - This guy, 2012
“Hold my beer” - Tesla, 2015
Good explanation of the speed variables and much of it is certainly caused by human behaviors in driving. Road widening though is found to create induced travel demand and ultimately the road becomes more congested. We can’t build our way out of traffic and we really need to focus on providing viable alternative options.
Or were you and your friends driving too slowly?
It's actually much simpler. People like speeding up and stopping for that quick second to check their phone or something. When your on the highway and people are stopped in front of you. You should slow down as much as possible with out fully stopping.
The solution in general is to keep a distance between you and the vehicles in front at all times, it looks like you are wasting space to those that aren't aware, but they will leave the road or pass in front. This article (above) just exposes the behavior that permits a traffic jam to persist. What causes a traffic jam can be anything that stops the flow of traffic... I think part of the problem is psychological, I'm learning in other areas like overeating, people are driven to overeat because their natural animal instinct is to horde, in this case people will horde space because their brain is telling them they will get to their destination faster by hording space, but they aren't thinking, if they were they'd see that all the traffic ahead of them is moving the same rate or not moving..
In general, When people are doing things that are obviously stupid like trying to get somewhere fast by hording space, others need to be different, the difference causes people to think. It's best if the difference is well thought out, and encourages a positive behavior. Any difference though, risks distracting people, which might lead to people making errors..
Fortunately this behavior (leaving space in front of you at all times) will only distract people in a slow-moving traffic jam where there is less of a chance of a wreck causing a loss of life. You risk a terrible accident everytime you get in a car, but even more at high speed, and keeping space in front of you at high speed decreases the probability of that.. Also those who brake a lot, this method will save your brakes from wear. I advise keeping this much space: (speed / 10) * cars length.. Although I do tend to increase the space to 100 feet if I am near the exit ramp, so that those who need to get somewhere fast will take the exit and reduce congestion.
In general, you have to just challenge yourself to think of a better solution to the problem. Being different is a start. If you strive to be like others, it's easy, but it isn't interesting, and you never realize much about the world. For some, it's a risk to be different, but the world doesn't change if you are afraid to change.
We have two eyes so we can observe the world from two perspectives, without these two perspectives on the world, we are unable to determine where objects are and more likely to walk into glass windows, mirrors, etc..
Keeping space in front of you in traffic also permits others to see that the reason the traffic is congested isn't your fault, but that the jam extends for miles, by distancing yourself from cars in front of you you permit your eyes to discern the space and make a decision of whether to continue on the road or exit, if you are smack-dab behind someone, you are no better aware than a blind sheep following the next-guys ass around.
Blender Naut In a limited access highway (interstates are an example), you primarily need two things to maintain throughput efficiency - 1.) spacing within the same lane and 2.) speed differential between lanes such that they're constantly sliding past each other allowing some flexibility for cars to get to the exit ramp from any of the lanes without significant impact to the cruising speed of any lane. This is typically expected as slowest on the right, then progressively faster each lane to the left. Each progressively faster lane must be passing the lane to the right productively (7-10 mph faster). You can think of it as each pair of lanes is the same as a two lane highway...pass productively and pass on the left to maintain the system. I think this would utilise our current infrastructure more efficiently by increasing the threshold of cars on the road before reaching gridlock.
Really nice comment, I know it has been 5 years so you probably won't see my comment, but I have always tried to fix this problem by leaving space, but cars keep switching to my lane, in just under a minute dozens of cars chang lanes to my lane. It is painful to live in a world made mostly of idiots ....
_"Keeping space in front of you in traffic also permits others to see that the reason the traffic is congested isn't your fault"_
Quiet as it's kept, this is one of the biggest reasons I loathe tailgating: you disrupt everyone else's ability to accurately read traffic ahead. Many times have I thought someone was driving "too slow", only to catch myself in the thought, take a breath, and find out that the person being tailgated was not driving slow at all: they were keeping up with traffic while the tailgater was not only being reckless, but gave everyone behind the impression that the person being tailgated was driving slow. @@kiernanholland
If you do the speed limit or anything under in the left lane you're wrong
Also, take mass transit and telecommute when possible.
This video doesn't explain why the car at the front brakes and especially why it would brake for an hour in the worse traffic jams
I see too many people just braking for nothing in particular. But the poor response time of human beings has an effect too. An average of a full second to respond, slowing down, put it from sixth to fourth, pulling up again. Where I live we have too many entrances and exists... also a major issue over here, and too many trucks... The autonomous car will solve it soon, but us Europeans have been too obsessed with gearing and turning.
It’s irrelevant why it braked, what matters is that it braked
There are several reasons for braking...
Not looking at the road, and getting surprised by a slower car in front of you.
A truck switching lanes and causing cars to break.
An accident (also just the outcome of an individual not braking)
And some are just slowing down more than necessary, which also causes traffic jam
1) Cars coming onto the highway ALL tailgating each other from the on ramp into the right lane where ALL the cars are tailgating each other in the right lane so cars have to brake suddenly because NOBODY leaves space in front of them for merging traffic.
2) people making unnecessary aggressive lane changes to try to speed there way through heavy traffic forcing people to brake suddenly to avoid getting hit by aggressive lane changers, who keep going back and forth between lanes.
3)GALKING at cop cars, accident scenes, cars in ditch etc.
it also doesn't help that everyone gets out at the same exact time and everyone has to take the same route home. So in reality, it's generally a combo of increased volume of cars, many people rushing to get home (speeding ) , shitty driving, and crappy roadways. Sadly you have a shit ton of cars all racing to get home, having to brake for those going the speedlimit or to cut across lanes causing others to brake as well. Then to boot, most highways or roadways aren't built to hold the current amount of traffic. So in the long run, it's better that people maintain consistent speeds that match the majority of drivers on the road, staggering shift end times really helps ( and certain states actually do this), reducing crazy driving and being prepared for exits and turns ( rather than cutting across three lanes, e.t c. ) and then lastly, the state changing the roadways to accommodate the growing traffic amounts. (hopefully in a smart way, instead of being like Connecticut and wasting billions of dollars and time to revamp an entire highway when really they could've just fixed the few problem spots ( mainly just widen a few spots and save a few billions of dollars )
When I see vehicles stopped on the freeway ahead I slow down as much as possible so that I don't have to come to a complete stop which mean I can accelerate faster and breaks the traffic jam cycle. Since I don't come to a complete stop the cars following me don't either making them able to accelerate faster as well. It also saves gas.
I have often wondered why the high way patrol doesn't send out several squad cars to drive side by side and set a slower pace to allow traffic jams ahead to clear up. This would lessen the amount of traffic accidents because everyone behind the patrol cars would be moving at a constant speed albeit at a slower than the posted speed limit. I rather go 40 or 50 miles per hour at a constant speed than 65 mph for half the time and sit in stop and go traffic that just crawls for miles.
Because people are selfish and want to go as fast as possible, not giving a shit who they end up slowing down in the process
At its root, the situation is contingent on the number of vehicles on a road at a particular time. Large crowds of people slow down when too many are in a space that's too small to accommodate all of them moving at the same time. So too do herds of animals, like sheep or cows that get herded around and put through gates in fences. It's not JUST people stepping on their brakes, which most of the comments here are claiming.
Just make driver license test as hard as college entrance exam. I've lived in four different countries and 12 different states here in the US. Many people in all of those places do not understand the traffic laws or have any driving etiquettes. Get off your phone, don't drink and drive, and pay attention to the road.
The alternative title for this should be, "How My Desired Outcome is Back-Engineered to 'Prove' the Need for What I Want."
Same as more drivers merging and change lane. They bumpers to bumpers that make crowded and jam and they made interstate Hwy become dead end by bumper and bumper traffic in the same lane
We have to get more pro-active about this. We can't just stop at "stay off the road" or "use a bicycle". We need to start incorporating science, technology, and outside the box thinking to this antiquated problem. Also, 100 years of Red light, yellow light, green light... seems a little regressive and asinine. Let's talk about ways of solving traffic congestion instead of talking about ways to cope with it.
+Tim Carter I agree with you. The bigger picture is that two many single people have cars, and not enough carpool together. Imagine if the roads of Los Angeles or New York city was replaced by a high speed rail system. This would eliminate traffic congestion and get people to walk more.
The problem is not related to technology or road transportation protocols.
The problem is there are LOTS of people sharing the same path and the only thing we could do to prevent that is to increase the number of adjacent paths available (ie, increasing road throughput).
Although in my opinion we already reached a point where the roads are big enough, the problem is there are just too many people...
Miguel Fonseca I agree with you in terms of population, but I disagree on protocols. We need to start having conversation with engineers, scientists, and outside the box thinkers to come up with solutions. I don't think we can simply keep throwing our hands in the air and saying "there's nothing we can do". I'm a small business owner and I network with other small business owners in my city, Portland Oregon. Traffic is so stifling now that we can't fit as much work into the day as we could even two years ago. Its not as easy as allowing yourself more time anymore. As a result you're working longer days and not making as much money which causes trickle down effects to your business and employees. Let's at least talk about solutions, is all I'm saying.
You're all idiots we need flying cars. Or some kind of personal solar powered gliders/jet packs. Think of how much faster we would get to work, and it would be stupid fun. Then if you want to take the car somewhere? Uh hello everyone is flying there's like no traffic
I agree. And to do this, people must drive at the average speed through the jam. What's the average speed? The one speed at which the volume of traffic entering the jam (or the zone where the jam would be) equals the volume exiting it. That's my understanding, anyway, but I'm no expert.
Hmm... so it also seems that accelerating quickly out of the final wave of the jam (assuming it has waves,) helps improve flow.
Allowing people to change lanes lowers traffic. But when you brake hard to let them in, you are stupid. No one should be braking on the freeway unless some anomaly presents itself.
Or if some dumbass tries to cut lanes in order to save time n risk the person behind crashing into them
+1 for Kieran Holland, who is onto something with following space. This ties in with a skill used by better drivers, known as Acceleration Sense. Acceleration Sense is all about timing your approach to synchronise with the expected traffic movement. By slowing earlier from further back, a driver can minimise the drop in speed, and catch up with the traffic ahead already resuming speed...
Maybe, on another planet with every being higher advanced in average
then you have the idiots who change lanes to excape the slow or stopped lanes and they don't realize 100 other people had the same idea and they just stopped the other lane. then they are like oh the other lane is moving again so they move back and repeat the process
This is driving me nuts all the time
Seems to me that there is a sweet spot between smoothly flowing traffic and congestion.
As long as traffic is moving smoothly, drivers will decide to use that road. If too many drivers are on the same section of road that cauaes congestion, some drivers will decide to avoid it or leave it. Then the volume goes down and the flow is improved to where drivers will get back on until it's congested again.
If you add another lane or another road, within three years, it'll be just as congested but with more cars.
So you can't fix it. The only thing you can do is work on the alternates like public transit and bike lanes. Enough commuters will quit driving for the alternates for congestion to hit that sweet spot.
Most drivers follow from below their reaction times, so whatever braking the driver ahead performs, the following drivers have to catch-up brake sub-sequentially harder.
In 11 years (or hope sooner) I think people figured out widening the roads are have the opposite effect
how about get all those darn big heavy too much space taking tractor trailers off the road and put them on rail road tracks. Here in Toronto, we have a major issue with trucks as the 401 is considered the most busiest of all highways in north america
driving longways through Tennessee is a nightmare because of the trucks
As a Trucker myself for over 2 decades, good grief sorry for delivering the food for you and your pets!!! Perhaps you would prefer to starve instead so you can get to your destination 10 minutes faster at best.
how did you do your animation. the one with small cars moving in plan view
They line up bumper bumper on slow and stop and they do the stop and go in the same lane as well as tailgate. We need to enforce them.
Make multiple level highway. The 1st level of 8 lanes is for local traffic and 2nd level of 8 lanes is expresses traffic. We can make the Skyscrapers 2,700 feet tall, but we can't make a simple 2 level highway? These engineers better get on the ball.
David Stewart how to make multi level motorways? If they could or it was feasible, they would. Come on
We got that it works perfect no trucks are allowed on the local 94 so its rarely traffic but the express 90/94 stays jammes up ... chicago
this doesnt explain what causes the car to stop in the first place, is it on ramps accidents, backed up exits or simply too many cars on the highway that the flow rate cant possibly go any faster
"So what can be done to prevent traffic jams? Roads can be widened."
I guess Scientific American hasn't heard of induced demand. Roads can be widened but traffic will increase until congestion is just as bad as it was before widening.
See urban planner Jeff Speck on freeway widening ruclips.net/video/A3T8vwJtgD8/видео.htmlm22s (3 minutes of content on induced demand)
He didn't mention maintaining a safe following distance. Apparently only automated cars are considered capable of doing that, per his spiel.
In a limited access highway, this commonly occurs in the fastest lane during traffic volume (where you would least likely expect it as its intended primarily for through-traffic). It happens because people brake to jump off at the exit at the very last opportunity (aka the NJ slide) and combined with people following too closely which leaves no space (padding) to absorb this rapid change in speed. To further exasperate the issue, people do not accelerate into the void that was left when the person dove to the exit preventing a full recovery. Try to avoid making these mistakes and play into space instead of staying huddled...traffic doesn't function well as a herd of cattle.
So traffic lights are to blame, not the total amount of cars, am I right?
I saw a video that said ppl who drive slow cause more accidents and jams than ppl
Who speed
Widening roads does not ease congestion there is compelling evidence that more roads and wider roads just lead to more cars on the road not more space for the existing cars
Adding lanes just increase the traffic, due to induced demand. Only alternative is to diversify your infrastructure and that everybody is driving at the same pace.
0:25 Or the M25 😂😂
Didn't you miss the fastest and easiest option: Advise the front car(s) to accelerate faster ?!!! Essentially the queue 'starts' at the front car(s) !!
Idiots hitting their brakes for no reason. Did a deer run out in front of you? No reason to brake on the freeway unless you're taking an exit.
then you have idiots who try to get in the other lanes cause they think it's faster
They have the motive to set the scenery for other driver to bump. They did showed you the wrong pattern on two lane traffic
and they have done studies and calculated that a traffic jams travel at 12 miles per hour.
Wish my family understood this. Instead they just accelerate until they're riding someone's ass.
No drivers can be trained better than a 30 min exam or killed.
Thanks, middle aged Lex Friedman
Can’t the guy in the very front of traffic just speed up?
No. Can the driver in the back quit trying to drive faster than all the traffic up front? Yes because you CANNOT drive faster than the car in front of you!!!
Tell me I'm wrong!!!
I believe that the solution is to provide Mass transit system. By providing circular railway type options within city the amount of private transport will decrease. I have tried to make a documentary (Title: Road traffic and public transport issues in Karachi Pakistan) regarding worst public transport and traffic issues in Karachi, Pakistan on my channel and came to this conclusion.
IQ tests should be mandatory for acquiring a drivers license
Old people
TODAY WHEN I WAS GOING TO MY SCHOOL THERE WAS @#$%*! TRAFFIC
I have a strong hate for people who brake even more.
The comment section explains why most people failed science
They could make 20 lane highways and there'd still be jackasses cruising in the left lane.
Nice Google ad.
The traffic jam still remains a big problem because there is no validation on the color coding scheme which is no longer effective due to massive vehicles on the road, with too many private cars which occupy enough space than the numbers of buses and public vehicles on the road, before I was misunderstood by some engineering experts on their theoretical analysis they have learned but they had no clarity experience in which root causes and solution increasing numbers units of private and public utility, and on how to make a program because it was quote when nothing goes right then left, MMDA under the leadership of Gen Danny Lim did give me the chance to deliberately discuss the concept of the Ideas because of misinformation coming from my critics but for all you know the real solution to its traffic jam is a reduction of private cars which has it huge of volume registered at LTO about Nine Hundred thousand( 900.000) not including buses and etc which a total of Two Million Three Hundred Thousands 2.3M Lto registered on NCR but some have said that all units registered are not from NCR according to DOTR engr but they were not aware that these huge units of vhecles are in business here at the business center , some have parking lots of their owned and with buildbuild infrastructure it will double the vehcilec coming from the nearby provinces going to NCR the result with the opening of the classes in a jampack stressful situation will also be experince to with public communters MMDA because of their problems arises due to long time traffic jam. has made some noise called "Brand Coding" this was not expounded on how the mechanics will work to decrease the numbers of units through Brand Coding Reduction, If you come to think of the Brand vehicles is not a problem but we give a program of window hour and not by singling out one brand perday but the mixed brand in program system to control the huge volume, is what they can not get because it is new founded on my experience since when I was in High School and I noticed infrastructure do not make the solution to traffic jam, like in any other countries traffic jam still a big problem but only increase to the speed of your mobility to a long-distance journey,
that makes sense
going to la rn… the traffic is so shit
Not a bad video but you forgot to mention tailgaiting, traffic jams would break up quicker if more people left a 3 second gap from the car in front of them.
It's always that dumb first car who's always breaking for dam reason
good shit
No we should not get stuck because traffic more in peak hours. The crooks make us believe that more drivers we will get stuck and have more accidents.
Traffic will never ever end. People are HOPELESSLY stupid and beyond help. I’m just waiting for the big fuckin reset. People are their own worst enemy. Move away from big cities.
Economists and engineers have known since 1957 that widening highways does nothing to prevent congestion due to: #InducedDemand.
"Scientific American" should have done better research before misinforming the public in this way.
This video damages the credibility of your publication.
Use clutch and brake with same foot, seems do-able...
I don’t get it......
science'd!
JUST FUCKING GOOOOO!!!!
So who tf is in the car that stops for no reason
Merging traffic, aggressive lane changers and galkers.
Well how hard is it to but a freaking helicopter DUH !
interesting
or everyone can get their head out of their asses and DRIVE!!!!
I'll take a packed subway car in Japan over car traffic.
What he said below me lol
I think staying off the road altogether is for millionaires with helicopters.
If the flow of traffic is only restored when the incomming cars drop low enough to allow the lead cars to catch back upp wouldnt leaving a big gap and not breaking be a solution
This pattern traffic showed you are wrong. These crooks show you wrong because they have motive set up the scien
These are the Jam caused by drivers it is have nothing to do with peak hour more drivers on the public hwy
I blame my mom
These jam caused by drivers it has nothing to do with peak hours more cars
Why tf do people brake for if nobody in front of them is
how about commuting by train or subway? Let professionals handle the driving!
So traffic is causee by idiots not paying attention like they should
So shitty drivers??
They moved toward to other drivers in the front then they do not let traffic move forward and they do not let drivers change lane as well as merging. These crooks must discipline 6mons without driving including the promoters said more traffic we have dead end Hwy Crooks they are the tricky peoples
You never get same rate speed. Because there are drivers need help. But you must keep room stop apart plenty or driving slow variance speed plenty room apart with other traffic. Why you move closed to peoples lost speed up front as well as merging traffic or changing lane in peak hours
You are watch traffic and react right away why you react late then said traffic reaction too late for problems in peak hours and other season rain and snow or summer
You must keep 500ft all the time why you make it short for react late jam up the roadway
The 500ft all time for slow for stop for increase speed or for drivers in between. You crook explained without 500 ft apart for those drivers it will jam road eay
It will jam road way
One slow person ruins it for everyone. I hate DC
Thanos was right
Ok, this was so not helpful. LOL
U had to throw in the Google word and driverless cars fake fix u liers
Blah blah
Poor explanation.
So all I gotta do to ruin many people's days is to just stop a couple seconds?
I saw a video that said ppl who drive slow cause more accidents and jams than ppl
Who speed