Ok let me try and make this make sense; when driving on the motorway/highway, why does traffic come to a slow or stop at some points and then speed up (with no obstructions/traffic lights etc) and flow freely with no change in the road or conditions?
If it’s clear up ahead, why do cars slow down or stop when nothing is blocking them in the distance? It’s like it slows down for no reason then just regains speed and traffic flows fine. Drives me insane
In: 8
There’s a delicate balance between how fast cars can go on the highway and how densely packed they can be. People naturally want some buffer room ahead of them, and the amount of buffer room increases with speed. As you take away buffer room, cars slow down.
But it isn’t exactly a linear relationship. At a certain density, the potential speed will absolutely plummet.
If a highway is near this density, then something as simple as a light changing color and 15 cars coming on the highway all at once can be enough to shock the system and make everyone slam their brakes. Everyone slamming their brakes then increases the density behind them, causing more people to brake, and so on and so on.
When you see traffic squeeze down like that, that’s typically from a shock to the amount of people on the highway at once.
Here’s a video with some more information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30uzZRSVxXQ
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