Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Traffic Sim Predicts Jams Before They Happen

Posted by simoniker on from the driving-in-your-jam-jar dept.

Via_Patrino writes "The New Scientist reports that: A traffic simulation system is helping drivers by predicting jams up to an hour before they happen. Traffic flow can be divided into three categories: freely flowing, jammed, and an intermediate state called synchronised flow in which dense traffic moves in unison. Physicists at University of Duisburg-Essen have developed 'the first model to reproduce all known traffic states.' Predicted conditions are displayed on the official website, and more than 90 per cent of the time, traffic density is predicted correctly."

3 of 218 comments (clear)

  1. Re:What if people start using it? by jcuervo · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    repeat until you come to the topic of a land war in China.
    It all ends up in the Middle East.
    --
    Assume I was drunk when I posted this.
  2. Man i am so tired... by zors · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    ...of Slashdot being so euro-centric.

  3. This is exactly why I hate good samaritans... by IOOOOOI · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    ... you know: the people who slow down not because they have to, but specifically to let someone in from an adjacent lane, or driveway, or side street, whatever. They think they are being a courtious driver, sharing the road, etc.

    They are oblivious to the fact that for the one vehicle they let in, they are causing at least one other car behind them to have to slow down and potentially miss the next traffic signal. Or worse, the person they let in does something to aggrivate the situation further:

    • drive too slow
    • deciding that they really want to be in the left lane so they hold up the first lane while they force their way into the next lane, causing that lane to have to slow down and so on
    • how many times has someone in front of you let a person in from say a gas station only to have that person make an immediate right turn and you all wind up waiting for the pedestrians?

    In each one of these cases, if the good samaritan had simply followed the rules of the road and maintained their right of way it would have been better for all. The few seconds of time saved by the benefactor is a fraction of the compounded delays of the people behind the samaritan.

    What aggrivates me even further, is that driving schools preach that this kind of behavior is good and will help reduce the number of accidents. BULLSHIT. The rules of the road were designed to prevent accidents by increasing the predictability of events that occur on the road.

    Don't get me wrong, there are times when you are compelled to give up your right of way or even blatantly break the rules in order to maintain your safety and that of others. Unfortunately, people have been taught by authority figures (driving schools, often as a condition of getting a ticket dismissed) that this should be a matter of practice. This is reinforced by the fact that if you sound your horn (as a safty warning of course :) at someone who suddenly decides to follow this advice, you are considered an asshole.

    Unless it is to mitigate an unsafe situation, follow the rules of the road people!