Sinful7

In the past I had found myself wondering what in the hell causes traffic jams, expecially on the highway near merge areas.



One ride in my mom's car cleared it up.

it's a case of over-courtesy or misanticipation.

Driver A is cruising along in the right lane at 50MPH in moderate traffic.

Driver B is merging on a medium-long acceleration lane.

Driver A and B calculate impending contact at the merge point.

Driver A, slows to allow B to merge. Driver B slows to yield as they should.

Drivers A and B unwittingly try to out-slow eachother.

Driver C, Following A, is partially unattentive to Driver A's moronic action. Follows a little to close, and has to slam on the brakes to avoid contact.

Drivers A & B floor the accelerator, in an attempt to get in front of one another.

Traffic behind Driver C is consecutively hitting their brakes in response to driver C's sudden movements.

Driver A lets off the accelerator and Driver B completes the pass and the merge.

At the same time, Driver C has re-accelerated and it safely behind Driver A.



The pattern repeats, with braking being more prevalent than acceleration. Abrupt movements cause traffic to caterpillar. Eventually, traffic near the merge lanes stops. Traffic immidiately following the merge area breaks free and speeds to ten MPH over the limit, to make up for lost time.



During the jam, several people and big trucks moved to the far left lane to avoid the jam. After the jam, several people realize that they either need to exit, or can't keep up with the acceleration rates, and move back to the right. This opens a 1/4 mile window for Driver D.



Driver D floors it, heading as fast as mechanically possible down the left lane.

Driver D approaches Driver E, who was a jam avoider that never merged back right.

Driver D misinterprets Driver E's speed, gets too close and slams on the brakes.

Traffic behind responds in a similar fashion.



Lady on the cell phone in her SUV is too preoccupied to see that traffic ahead is braking hard. Lady on cell phone rearends DriverD, rolls her SUV, hits a semi-truck and slides into the middle lane. Lady is thinking about how she will need to find her cell phone which was thrown from the vehicle, so she can call her contact back and tell them that she was in an accident.



Traffic SLAMS on the brakes. Pissed drivers in traffic refuse to let vehicles in the left two lanes merge right, because they might lose their spot or arrive a half-second later.



Cops are dispatched, Lady on phone is still stuck in the overturned SUV and still concerned about her phone call as she bleeds.



Cops can't get through to the accident because there's so much traffic and construction on the shoulder has eliminated access paths. When the shoulder does open, there's a stalled car in it's third week of abandonment blocking the route.



Lady dies, local news picks up the story. Driver D is falsly accused of road rage and brake-checking. Driver D goes to jail after an unfair trial.



Meanwhile, Driver A is totally oblivious to the whole thing, having caused the massive jam, the death of a person and extensive damage. the next morning, Driver A thanks god that they weren't caught in that mess as they slow to let a car merge.

FD3S DRIFT

so true i see that shiat all the time

1988RedT2

Your observations are accurate and nicely detailed. However, the offender is clearly not driver A. The inattentive lady in the SUV on the cellphone is at fault, and justice was served. RIP.

Sinful7

As much as you try to justify it, none of the example event would have occured without the ignorant actions of Driver A. Are you that guy?

1988RedT2

I have done plenty of crazy things behind the wheel, and I don't need to prove my driving abilities to you. In the situation you describe, I will have merged to the left to avoid slower traffic merging in from the right. My interstate strategy is generally to follow the car ahead at a safe distance in the left lane, typically running about 80. If someone's on my bumper, I pull over and let them by. So no, fella, that ain't me.



However, there is no way that the actions of Driver A can be construed as "ignorant." The "sad" (a little irony here) thing about this country is that pretty much everyone gets a license, and when those people get too old to see, or even think, they still have a drivers license. Give these people credit for having the sense to drive WITHIN THE LIMITS SET BY THEIR ABILITIES. If both drivers choose to be cautious, that's a good thing. There are plenty of inexperienced young drivers on the road who drive fast and recklessly and stain the nations roads with their blood and the blood of the innocent people who have the misfortune of getting in their way.



If you feel the need to go racing, then get to a local track or go home and play NFS. The highways are not your playground. People with jobs and spouses and children use them to get to work, and school, and the store.



It really pisses me off to see aggressive drivers weaving in and out of traffic just to get one car ahead of where they were. And if you eat somebody's bumper because they stopped and you couldn't, then you were following too damn close. Or maybe you were just "ignorant."



Cautious drivers don't cause accidents. Impatient people who drive beyond the capabilities of themselves and their cars cause accidents. In a few years, may you have infant children in your vehicle with you, and elderly parents about whom you worry when they are on the roads. Your views will likely change somewhat. So cool down, all you hotheads. Life is sweet, and precious, and sometimes all too short....

G2G

Letting emotions overpower the rules of the road isn't ignorant? If the sign says yield you yield, if the sign says you go foward while they yield, you are only going to cause problems if you try to yield to them, because they are trying to obey the traffic laws.



- Hand



***** and vagina

Edna

Preach brother, Amen!

1988RedT2

The "rule of the road" is yield. There is no sign saying "Go forth, traffic be damned."



There is no absolute right of way. If you have the ability to avoid a collision, then the law (rightfully) says you must yield.



I agree that some people are overly cautious, but remember these are people of all ages and all abilities. They are not all as good a driver as you.

Sinful7

Specifically speaking, in most states, existing traffic has the right-of-way. Meaning, the car in the merge lane yeilds. Not the retard in traffic. The effect of the congestion is caused by the ignorant (yes, they're ignorant) person who is being overly-cautious. Rules of the road amounts to 'yield', but should not take precedence over the traffic law. It's people that act contrary (unnecessarily yielding) to what everyone else is trying to do (follow state traffic law) that cause the problems. The problem's source is lack of education, lack of training and lack of awareness. The result is injury or death.

89 Rag

To add to the affore mention scenario, the traffic behind driver A in the right lane, whom have all merged at an acceptable rate of speed, and have not caused a ******* bottle neck during thier respective merge(s) onto the freeway, are livid that the over-cautious, over-courtious, driver A hasn't yet grasped the concept of negotiating traffic entering the freeway, so in turn they begin to move left as driver A continues to "throw out the anchor" .