Freeway Driving Mystery

Spacing..................at some point either someone slowed or did not keep proper spacing and caused a speed up or slow down to regain proper spacing which in turn caused others to lose proper spacing. If proper spacing is kept, meaning allowing enough space that should you slow down, the car behind you does not need to adjust speed while you regain yours. Spacing means just that and would solve freeway traffic problems, leaving enough space so that a vehicle in front of you may slow and then regain speed without you having to adjust yours, causing all behind you to slow in sucsession but adjust without affecting the one behind.

"If proper spacing is kept, meaning allowing enough space that should you slow down, the car behind you does not need to adjust speed while you regain yours. Spacing means just that and would solve freeway traffic problems, leaving enough space so that a vehicle in front of you may slow and then regain speed without you having to adjust yours, causing all behind you to slow in sucsession but adjust without affecting the one behind."

Nice rephrase!

Some years ago there was an article about this in Scientific American. A scientist realized that moving traffic could fall into something like seven stable "phases", analogous to solid, liquid or gas, and some of them allowed faster travel than others. I imagine that means we might not need smart highways to coordinate cars into dense, fast formations. The cars themselves might self-organize into efficient formations, given proper programming.

But I also imagine that the energy levels of the phases (or whatever you call it) aren't much different, so an efficient formation might slide into a less efficient one with only a small perturbation.

Raul,

What makes you think all cars ARE going 55? I can't drive fifty-five!

Mike

Perfect world that we live, assume ass' u' me' not so perfect

Thanks for your comment Sammy.

Hi Bob - well at least someone got it!

Guess I'll get on my Bad Motor Scooter.... and Ride

Mike

You can make a very good analogy to a standard electromagnetic wave at an impedance mismatch. If something happens (a car swerves, a cat stands by the freeway with a crossbow, the number of lanes change, whatever), it generates a reflected wave that may travel uptraffic for as many as twenty miles (even further in metric countries, I suppose).

Here's a previous blog entry (with video links) about a simulated experiment showing how traffic jams can occur for no real reason. http://cr4.globalspec.com/blogentry/5292.

This is caused by Canadians. When they across into the US, they suddenly have to convert kpm to mph. At times the small buttons on the calculator can be hard to see. As it invariably happens, the attention to the the scenery, the calculator, the cell phone cat with a crossbow, ect.... It just becomes more than a person can manage.

I am looking forward to global warming. Then the Canadians will not need to drive to Florida to warm up each year.

global warming means prime real estate opening up just south of the Arctic circle

Some drivers drive together in packs.

These drivers are often distracted.

They go along with the flow then get bunched up or collectively realize of a sudden they've become to close together; selective brain function causes a micro anxiety panic syndrome.

Then they take a breath while slowing down as a pack then resume their individual conversations or dreams of the weekend and the scenario repeats.

An Arizonan such as myself would answer that with "SNOWBIRDS!"

JL Mealer
Mealer Companies LLC
http://mealercompanies.com