Jerks actually reduce the risk of traffic jams

[The Battousai]

http://physicscentral.com/buzz/blog/...95237807494042

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

The next time someone cuts you off on your morning commute, don't be so quick to call the driver a jerk; you may have a reason to say thanks. According to the latest physics research, rule-breakersdrivers passing you on the wrong side or changing lanes too close to the intersectionactually help smooth the flow of traffic for the rest of us.


"The interesting finding is that if most of the people are law-abiding, and you have a certain amount of people who are breaking the rule, then you are actually getting the minimum chance of a [traffic] jam," said Petter Minnhagen, a physicist at Sweden's Umea University and an author of the paper published in the journal Physical Review E.


Physicists at the school uncovered this phenomenon while constructing a computer model of how a crowd of people move across a confined space, such as a pedestrian-only street. They divided the space into squares, like a chessboard, and randomly placed pedestrians in some of the squares. Like real people, the model pedestrians had a certain small probability of momentarily pausing, as if they had run into a friend or had bent down to tie a shoelace.


To make things more interesting, the researchers then tossed a few mavericks into the mix, who didn't follow the rules the other pedestrians used. The physicists ran the simulation over and over, each time boosting the percentage of rule-breakers. At first pedestrian deadlocks worsened. But as more and more rule-breakers joined the fray, something entirely unexpected occurred: traffic flowed best when only about 60 percent of pedestrians were obeying the rules.


Simple interactions of individual cars, people, or molecules add up to large patterns in a system. The high concentration of pedestrians in a small area increases the chances of a jam, but rule-breakers made the crowds spread out.



Morris Flynn, a University of Alberta professor who uses computational methods to study car traffic, agrees with the explanation. Because rule-breakers "carve out their own path," Flynn said, they dilute large concentrations of rule-abiders moving in the same way. He pointed out an example familiar to anyone who has driven on a two-lane road: breaking the speed limit to pass a slow vehicle prevents a long chain of cars from forming.


However, there is one rule you shouldn't break, according to a new analysis of how high-volume traffic flows along a highway. Cecile Appert-Rolland, a physicist at the University of Paris-Sud, looked at the tailing distances between cars traveling on a busy two-lane expressway in the suburbs of Paris. Most people have heard of the "three-second rule" for following distances; after the car ahead of you passes a point on the road, count to three. If you pass the same object before you get to three, you're following too closely. This time-based measure of the distance between cars is what Appert-Rolland terms the "time headway."


Her research showed that tailgating drivers were more likely than a non-tailgater to have a car in the lane next to them, so they weren't just speeding up in order to change lanes. She also found that these short time headways tended to extend across several vehicles, creating a platoon.


"We can identify at least seven or eight cars where they have time headways of half a second," she said. Considering that a driver's reaction time is about one second, these platoons are disastrous pileups waiting to happen. "If the first one brakes, the second one has to brake harder, the third one even harder, and the last wouldn't be able to brake hard enough."


So while unexpected behavior may help with congestion, always follow the three-second rulebecause if you're tailgating, chances are you won't be the only one.


-Lauren Schenkman

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*wrings hands menacingly*

[Wiseman]

See, I do the rest of you a favor when I'm drunk

[Lord Valumart]

"Physicists at the school uncovered this phenomenon while constructing a computer model of how a crowd of people move across a confined space, such as a pedestrian-only street."

why?

[The Battousai]

Originally Posted by Lord Valumart

"Physicists at the school uncovered this phenomenon while constructing a computer model of how a crowd of people move across a confined space, such as a pedestrian-only street."

why?

Why not?

[Figs]

Interesting but I would love for them to try to use this BS in regards to freeway traffic in the Bay Area.

[The Battousai]

Originally Posted by Figs

Interesting but I would love for them to try to use this BS in regards to freeway traffic in the Bay Area.

[Majic Walrus]

I call ********. Driving dangerously might speed up traffic flow but it can also cause accidents. I'd rather sit in traffic than get hit by some ******* passing me on the right hand side at 90 miles an hour.

[Addendum]

I'm the jerk that waves at you because you waited till the last minute to leave a closed lane.

[The Battousai]

They definitely need to expand the research before they say anything definitive.

[Figs]

Originally Posted by Addendum

I'm the jerk that waves at you because you waited till the last minute to leave a closed lane.

I try to block those A holes. I've seen too many of them actually drive over the shoulder line illegally just to get ahead of one or two more cars...LIKE YOU'RE REALLY GOING TO GET WHERE YOU'RE GOING FASTER A HOLE! Sorry about the caps but I have zero tolerance for this, especially since I deal with it 5 days a week coming home from work Monday thru Friday.

[knowsbleed]

Haha, I thought the title said, "Jake actually reduces the amount of traffic jams" and I thought to myself, "Howso?"

But now it's even funnier because it still makes sense with his name in it.

[Addendum]

I always block those guys. When I'm on the interstate and I'm in the far right lane when the traffic is congested, I get halfway in the shoulder just to block the illegal passing.

[Figs]

Originally Posted by Addendum

I always block those guys. When I'm on the interstate and I'm in the far right lane when the traffic is congested, I get halfway in the shoulder just to block the illegal passing.

Yup! It's great too because when they get a chance to merge into the lane to the left of you they tend to give you dirty looks for blocking them...which then prompts me to give the finger in some cases.

[Nell2ThaIzzay]

well im glad i wasnt driving around you folks then when i had to drive on the shoulder to get off the freeway so that my car didnt blow up.

[BeserkerHilf]

i hope a cop pulls you over for sitting half way in the shoulder then tells you "we're the ones in charge" as he gives you a ticket

[Addendum]

If my car sounded like it was going to blow up when I was driving it, I would pull over, get the **** out, and call a tow to my mechanic.

[Majic Walrus]

Originally Posted by BeserkerHilf

i hope a cop pulls you over for sitting half way in the shoulder then tells you "we're the ones in charge" as he gives you a ticket

[Addendum]

Originally Posted by BeserkerHilf

i hope a cop pulls you over for sitting half way in the shoulder then tells you "we're the ones in charge" as he gives you a ticket

Let me guess, you're one of the drivers that likes to pass on the shoulder?

And I would tell the cop, "sure as **** don't look like it smokey, since you got about 12 cars behind me that think passing on the shoulder is legit"

[BeserkerHilf]

no, speeding is the only law I break. I freak **** when people don't use their turn signals or use their headlights in a storm.

[MessiahDecoy123]

I could've told you this. Whenever someone is driving slow in the passing lane, traffic begins to form


And people who drive slow in the passing lane are actually the jerks, not the people who keep the flow of traffic by keeping the passing lane clear.

[bullets]

If someone is trying to get in the lane it shouldn't be a fight , let them in. Keep things moving.
If they just cut you off they are inconsiderate a-holes and you should wish death upon them.

[Aesop Rocks]

Originally Posted by Wiseman

See, I do the rest of you a favor when I'm drunk

A winner is you.