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When unexplained traffic jams happen, says an MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) study, you can probably blame tailgaters. The researchers say that if drivers kept an even distance between cars rather than driving too close to the vehicle in front, traffic flow would remain even. This "bilateral control," could double the speed of the average vehicle on busy highways.
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This ideal is very different from what is the norm in most thinking about traffic, especially by those stuck in it. Drivers (and, consequently, vehicle control systems) tend to be looking ever forward, responding only to what's ahead and largely ignoring what's behind. Thus, in stop-and-go or slow-and-go situations (traffic jams), each vehicle reacts to the vehicle in front, causing intermittent slowdowns or stops (jams) in wave-like patterns. When vehicles are working to maintain equal distances both from the car in front and the vehicle behind, the MIT paper contends, these wave patterns are minimized and traffic flows more smoothly.
Maintaining even spacing facilitates lane changes and merges as well.
(Score: 4, Informative) by nobu_the_bard on Friday December 15 2017, @10:22PM (1 child)
Knowing how to drive a motorcycle doesn't make you not a moron.
Driving on the highway the other day, I saw a fool going up on one wheel with his motorcycle just before a corner where traffic always slows to a crawl abruptly. It's a very accident prone area because it's a long downhill three-lane stretch that suddenly becomes a 2-lane flat highway around a corner. It often smells like burnt plastics and spilled oil, even. I actually recoiled a bit, seeing what was going to happen to the goof a full minute before it happened with no way to stop him. He did drop to two wheels as he neared the corner, but his speed was too high, and when cars slammed their brakes he had to pull off the highway to avoid hitting them.
I've learned to watch how close I'm being followed. In places like that, I need to follow with not just enough time to avoid hitting the person in front of me, but also give the person behind me enough time to react and slow down. That necessitates following further back the closer the person behind me is.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Saturday December 16 2017, @01:09AM
Yes: then you gotta rely on Darwin to take care of the morons.
I'm just saying it would take Grandma/pa off the road if they can no longer drive, but the DMV guy feels sorry for them.
It would take off the road the people who CANNOT for the life of them drive, but pass because the DMV guy feels sorry for them.
It seems around here, young kids fail their exams the first time always, unless they do exceptionally well, but pass on the second try unless exceptionally poor. Money grab, then pass.
If they can't drive a motorcycle, they should not be behind the wheel of a killing machine, cell phone in hand texting and FB'ing thinking they are invincible.
Morons will be morons, i agree. So does Darwin. :)
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---