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Rude Drivers Reduce Traffic Jams
BuzzSkyline writes "Traffic jams are minimized if a significant fraction of drivers break the rules by doing things like passing on the wrong side or changing lanes too close to an intersection. The insight comes from a cellular automata study published this month in the journal Physical Review E. In effect, people who disregard the rules help to break up the groups that form as rule-followers clump together. The risk of jamming is lower if all people obey the rules than if they all disobey them, according to the analysis, but jamming risk is lowest when about 40 percent of people drive like jerks."
Drivers breaking the rules to get out of traffic jams reduces the number of cars in traffic jams.
In other news... passengers jumping out of airplanes leaves more room for other passengers.
Of course rude drivers ease congestion. When they kill someone because of their stupidity, not only will that person not drive again, but they'll probably lose their license, so they won't either!
At least 30mph is moving. Have you ever driven near/in/around Washington DC?
The problem of cars "clumping" is due to the "rule abiding" drivers following each other too closely. This is in fact not rule abiding.
A reasonable space must be left between each car to provide enough extra slack to handle unexpected events like braking and slowing. When people follow too closely, this slack is all but eliminated thus causing each unexpected event's effect to become magnified. A quick tap of the brakes causes a chain reaction resulting in a traffic jam. Leaving enough space to handle an unexpected event provides each driver extra time to react.
In addition, since the additional slack allows for longer reaction times, a faster average speed can be achieved. Bob Dobbs would be so proud.
Article also says to always obey the 3 second rule. This doesn't make sense. In heavy traffic most folks are 1/2 to one second apart. If you spread them 3 seconds apart, throughput goes down by a factor of between three and six. Too bad, the original research is impressive and spot on.
IMO, a lot of problems could be avoided if people respected all the rules of the road, and not just the official ones. For example, I respect anyone's right to drive at whatever speed they feel comfortable with. If that's at, above or below the speed limit I don't care. However, no matter how fast you're going, if there's someone behind you who wishes to go faster, move over to the right. It's not your job to set speed limits, the cops do that, and they exercise discretion too depending on the traffic and time of the day.
What gets me really frustrated is people in the left lane, going at or slightly below the speed limit, with a LONG line behind them. It's situations like these that cause problems, as people who wish to go faster try to get around the slowpokes.
In my opinion, if people simply moved over for a faster car, kept the left lane open for passing/faster traffic, then the vast majority of weaving cars and "jerks" on the highways would disappear.
It's a big peeve of mine. I drive faster than the speed limit, I'll admit it. If I'm in the wrong, the cops will pull me over. However, get out of the left lane if you're going slow and there's 10 cars tailgating behind you!
-"Those who fought today will die tommorow."-
Tragedy of the commons. Seriously, what's the deal with 'studies' like this even being done?
In any system that requires order, a certain amount of entropy is desirable. But when the factors contributing to this entropy are 'given permission' to increase, then the system breaks down into complete chaos.
Isn't that just great? Now jerkwad drivers can justify themselves quoting this study: "But I was just trying to be the 40% of helpful guys!"
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I live in Boston, so I have empirical evidence that if 40% people drive like assholes, you still get plenty of traffic jams. Sorry, your model must be broken.
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Well, in Germany it would be against the law to change early. It has been shown that driving till the end, and then merging as "one from the left lane, one from the right lane" is the most efficient way to handle ending lanes. Therefore the law demands that. It's called "Reissverschlussverfahren" ("zipper procedure").
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
No, the interesting thing is that the people breaking the rules make the entire situation better for everyone else, too; not just for themselves.
If someone is passing on the wrong side, then someone else already being rude and breaking the rules by refusing to yield the passing lane.
While they make the situation better for everybody, the people breaking the rules benefit the most. This is sort of like the "tragedy of the commons," with a twist. In the tragedy of the commons, the people who don't break the rules don't derive any benefit. In this situation, they're at least a little bit better off than if nobody broke the rules. Everybody has an incentive to try to be in that 40%, though. (Some people, like me, follow the rules dogmatically and altruistically.) I guess what's called for is some sort of automagic lottery system by which 40% of drivers in high-traffic situations are notified in real-time that they are being encouraged to drive more aggressively. AI researchers, get on that.
Virtue finds and chooses the mean.
Aristotle, Ethica Nichomachea
The saturation point is a random variable unfortunately because the first "jerk" that causes or gets into a crash was one too many as that stops traffic completely. Unfortunately this could be the 1st jerk, the 10th jerk, or the 100th jerk. No way to tell in advance.
And they don't rubber-neck. They don't break down. They don't get pulled over for speeding tickets,
Of course the Germans would have a law for this, and a word to no less. :-)
Damn I wish I lived in Germany...
And it depends on which rules, and where. Not all rule-breaking helps, just those that encourage the flow of traffic.
Personally, there's one rule I'd like ingrained in every driver's head: never match speeds with someone in the lane next to you. Pass, fall behind, whatever. Just don't sit there turning a two-lane road into what's effectively a one-lane road.
'Sensible' is a curse word.
20-lane roads won't really solve the problem, as now you end up with the left few lanes having the long-distance drivers, and the right lanes being a mess of cars trying to change lanes and get over to their exits. How many times have you seen cars fly across 3 lanes of traffic to get to an exit? Now imagine cars trying this across 5 or 10 or even 20 lanes. Now you need far more road to change lanes, and now you'll get stuck with multi-lane traffic accidents. I suppose traffic can still move around them fast, but the roads definitely wouldn't be safer (a side issue, but normally considered more important than how fast traffic flows).
Phil
Another cure for traffic jams is to make our highways 20-lanes wide (like in Asimov's novels).
Two words, separated by a hyphen: rubber-neckers.
They are the cause of almost all traffic jams.
(I live in Sterling, couldn't fathom driving into or out of DC every day. I'd do what you do and leave at 5. My neighbor does that as well.)
I notice a lot of other little tendencies that also contribute to the problem. There's one in particular that comes to mind.
I usually see this on four-lane highways, where you have two lanes going one way and two lanes going the other way. Anytime there are only two other cars, they are right beside each other, in lock-step, doing the exact same speed over the course of miles. That way no one can pass them. If you tap (not lay on) your horn to try to get the guy in the passing lane to do some crazy like y'know, pass the other driver so you can get by them, they often think you're challenging their manhood rather than asking them not to monopolize a public resource. When I see this shit all the time, it becomes easier to understand why impatient drivers get fed up with it and will make dangerous maneuvers (like cutting right in front of someone) to get around these people. I'm not saying it's an excuse, only that if you create a strong enough temptation some people WILL succumb to it even if they aren't supposed to.
I often notice people will try to stay in my blind spot so they can do this. There's just no way that they are accidentally going my exact same speed over the course of miles. Any fraction faster or slower would eventually cause one car to pass the other over distances. I also see that when I have to stop for a traffic light, the guy beside me will slow down at the same time that I slow down even though there may be cars in front of me that require me to slow down earlier than he does. This often causes them to stop short, or to stop short, realize it, and then pull up to the light. Or if you take an exit ramp off the highway and you are slowing down in a turning lane, watch the guy who is still on the highway; often he will slow down on the highway lane just because you are slowing down in the separate turning lane, needlessly holding up anyone behind him. I refer to highways that are specifically designed so that turning traffic has its own lane and need not slow down the main road. I think drivers don't understand that groups of cars exhibit wave-like behaviors, so a minor needless slowdown can contribute to jams miles behind you. That is, it does not occur to them to even think at all of how their decisions are affecting other people, which sums up nearly all traffic problems.
I really don't think they intend to do it. I think they're just such sheep that they cannot even independently choose their own speed. Doing as others around them are doing is just so deeply ingrained. I won't allow someone to hang out in my blind spot for very long at all and will alter my speed to prevent it, both because it prevents me from being able to change lanes and because it limits my maneuverability if I ever had to dodge an obstacle. It has these two downsides and it has no upside for anyone so it's not even selfish of the other drivers, just stupid.
Another issue that causes some jams is the traffic lights themselves. Traffic lights seem to be why cars travel in these huge packs because they all line up at the red light. The tendencies I mentioned above guarantee that the packs usually don't disperse over distances. If I can manage to get in front of or just behind such a pack of cars, it makes things much easier for me than when I'm stuck within one. I'd be interested in whether something like traffic circles would prevent these large packs from forming.
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
Tell that to all of the A$$holes who suddenly feel the need to accelerate as you try to pass them! Maybe it's just an unconscious competitive thing for some people, but it happens all too frequently. These are definitely not the types of jerks who increase the flow of traffic. I've got my cruise control on, and am steadily approaching the car in front of me at a relative speed of 5-10 mph. I change lanes to pass and all of a sudden the relative rate of speed drops to '0'? Maybe my cruise control just stops working in the center or left lanes?
Hopefully I won't get trolled for this, but it's that kind of mentality that causes accidents. Not the part about slowing down in front of a tailgater necessarily, but intentionally speeding up as soon as they go to pass you in the other lane.
I think this may be hardwired behaviour, NOT due to just being a competitive asshole. It is essentially herd behaviour -- stick with the herd, don't get left behind for the predators to notice.
I've noticed my neighbour, who has no push-and-shove in her at all and is very much a "herd animal", will drive faster to "keep up with" a car in the next lane, AND DOES NOT REALISE SHE IS DOING IT. She will speed up by as much as 10mph to "keep up" and still doesn't notice she's done so.
Me, I'm a predator by nature, and I find that my natural response is to get AWAY from the car in the next lane, to get ahead of or behind them, but never to travel side by side.
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Because speed limits have long ago ceased having anything to do with safety and become only revenue generators.
I'm with you there, I used to like to speed. Now I like to cruise in the slow lane, and I have the opposite peeve: Asshats who refuse to use the two empty lanes on my left to pass, and ride my frickin bumper. I'll give em a minute, then the foot comes off the gas. Had one guy wait until we got down to 35 before he passed me. So sorry, is changing lanes really that hard?
Never let a lack of data get in the way of a good rant.
I don't know how people justify speeding for any reason other than in a critical situation.
Because when the limit is 55 and everyone else is going 70-75, it probably isn't safe to not speed.
...for insurance companies. You left-out that part. They lobby harder than anyone for speed limits, because if you get two or more tickets, they can label you a "wreckless driver" (even if you've never had an accident your whole life) and double or even triple their rates.
Furthermore U.S. Congressional law mandates that interstates be designed for 120 miles an hour (note I said interstates, not the spurs or beltways). Why we are limited to only half that speed makes no sense to me. Other states like Montana have no speed limit, or like Oklahoma have 75mph limits, and are still just as safe as those states with 55 or 65.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
My take on that, is that as long as you are actually passing somebody, you have every right to remain in the passing lane, even if some %#^@*! wants to go 10 mph faster than you. However, once the lane to your right is clear for a reasonable distance, you must yield the passing lane, even if you think the guy behind you is going unreasonably fast. This is the law here in MA and I believe most states enforce "keep right except to pass". Driving the speed limit does not entitle you to the left lane, even though it's an apparent contradiction that the speeder behind you has the right to pass you.
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Yes, this kind of things is my wet dream. No more grandpa stuck in the middle of the motorway at half the speed limit and no more speed jerk running over your bumper because you drive to slow for them but already 5-10km/h over the speed limit... For me a car is a tool to move from point A to point B. If i don't have to bother about the others cars because the car do it for me, I will have time to read/play/work during to commute.
lights are timed for the speed limit
Where do you live that the lights are timed for the speed limit? Around the Houston area they certainly aren't. Your probability for catching a green wave does not increase with proximity to the speed limit. Hell, in some neighborhoods all the lights have car sensors rather than timers.
As for coasting to a stop at a red light, that's not "hypermiling," it's just common sense. I can't count the number of times I've had to stop because somebody gunned past me on the way to a red light, only to have to stop, when we both could have coasted through had he just had an iota of patience. So wasteful!
people have largely stopped honking, so they'll just sit behind such an oblivious person and just wait
Man I want to live where you do. Around here, if you aren't immediately moving you get honked at. The great irony there is that if you don't wait at least half a second before hitting the gas, you're likely to get hit by a red-light-runner.
rubberneckers, even when someone is just changing a tire or getting a ticket
Slowing down is not rubbernecking when somebody is getting a ticket. In Texas, you're required by law to either move over one lane or drop to 20 mph below the posted speed limit when passing an emergency vehicle with lights on.
so many people seem unwilling to even get up to the speed limit, let alone exceed it by a few miles per hour, as if you're going to get a ticket for 48 in a 45
People don't go over the speed limit, because it's the law (in most states, though some have a reasonable speed clause). If you don't like it, petition your local transportation department to change it. Don't ride their ass, honk your horn, and/or flip them off. Not saying you do, but several want-to-go-fast-because-I-can drivers certainly do. I used to be one of them when I was a whippersnapper. And there are certainly locales where the local police force will give you a ticket for going even one mph over the posted limit, even when you're in the process of decelerating from one speed zone to another.
As for people who stop on acceleration lanes, I'm right with you. It's terribly common in San Antonio. I'm surprised it doesn't cause more accidents than it does. It's second on my list of pet peeves only to those who don't yield to those on an exit ramp.
In an older copy of the Texas driver handbook, you used to have to come to a complete stop at a red with green arrow. In some states it may still be that way, I don't know. Additionally, if you're turning, it's always advisable to slow down enough so that you can stop if there are pedestrians present.
When you are paying for my gasoline, I will let you choose what speed I decide to move at on the road. Here our speed limit is set to 70. I get better gas mileage at 65. Everyone else goes 83 except truckers, I guess gas just is not high enough for people who speed.
Fine, just stay out of the left lane.
The "Speed Limit" is not the "Minimum Required Speed"
Sure, but it is the expected speed in good conditions.
Remember the speed limit is created as the maximum safe speed for a given length of road on favorable conditions. So I continue to ask everyone, what is your hurry?
The speed limit is often political, and is defined for the crappiest car that's road worthy - drive a uhaul truck at the speed limit and it's a whole lot more risk than my WRX going 10 (or 25) over. I'm not in a hurry, but I like to drive fast.
For all those who are wondering about why people tend (see that 40% thing again) to speed up while you are passing them?
Because some people don't want to drive fast, but can't stand the idea of someone passing them. Pretty messed up, really.
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Because "slower traffic keep right" is the law too, and if you fail to yield then you're breaking it!
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Calm down, chief. If he's going 75 in the passing lane like he said, and the other lane is going 55 he is exactly where he should be. If he's passing, he belongs in the passing lane. Your right to pass him is not more important than his right to pass others. If you think it is, that makes you the "utterly sleazy self-centered piece of garbage wrapped in skin."
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