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Experiment Shows Traffic 'Shock Waves' Cause Jams
Galactic_grub writes "Japanese researchers recently performed the first experimental demonstration of a phenomenon that causes a busy freeway to inexplicably grind to a halt. A team from Nagoya University in Japan had volunteers drive cars around a small circular track and monitored the way 'shockwaves' — caused when one driver brakes — are sent back to other cars, caused jams to occur. Drivers were asked to travel at 30 kmph but small fluctuations soon appeared, eventually causing several vehicles to stop completely. Understanding the phenomenon could help devise ways to avoid the problem. As one researcher comments: 'If they had set up an experiment with robots driving in a perfect circle, flow breakdown would not have occurred.'"
Well there's your problem right there.
You wouldn't have this problem if you wrote your own drivers.
If you can read this, I forgot to post anonymously.
I always kinda fantasized about a switch that did the following:
-Activate the brake lights
-Activate a set of hydraulics to boost the read of the car up an inch or two
-Release a little smoke from a point near the rear wheelwells
-Play a loud screeching sound from a loudspeaker mounted under the trunk
Simulated emergency stop! Should give those tailgaters a reason to back off...
=Smidge=