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posted by Fnord666 on Friday December 15 2017, @07:36PM   Printer-friendly
from the automate-that-already dept.

Gotta keep 'em separated:

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.
...
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.


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  • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Saturday December 16 2017, @01:09AM

    by Gaaark (41) on Saturday December 16 2017, @01:09AM (#610575) Journal

    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. :)

    --
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