The Science Behind Traffic Jams

AutoBlog ^ | March 5, 2011 | John Neff

[decimon]

Nothing will ruin a pleasant drive quicker than the sight brake lights coming towards you on the highway. Miles ahead, someone or something has spooked the bejeezus out of traffic and now you're about to pay for it with your free time. The mighty flow of America's highways is about to be plugged by you and a couple hundred of your closest strangers.

The next time a traffic jam's iron grip has you in its clutch, you can at least take heart knowing that scientists have figured out why they happen and who's to blame. Follow the jump for this latest infographic on the Science of Traffic Jams by our friends at Car Insurance Guide, and tell us in the comments if knowing really is half the battle.

[humblegunner]

Follow the jump for this latest infographic

So the "author" KNEW that this would be excerpted?

Interesting.

[decimon]

Follow the jump for this latest infographic

So the "author" KNEW that this would be excerpted?

The main page has a number of articles with many of them excerpted. If you're interested in one then you can click to read the whole thing.

[Farmer Dean]

Is that a Fiat fix-it contest?First team to get their Fiat to move under it’s own power wins?

[Hardastarboard]

And you always have to wonder, HOW could he have been speeding when traffic is moving along at maybe, if you're lucky, 10 miles an hour under the limit.

[DariusBane]

Their are always tax stamps and paper work. If a cop causes the death of three or four innocents, that’s just the price of justice.

After all, Americans want their overlords. They want them tough, armed, everywhere, with bad haircuts, bad ass sunglasses, a code book so big it can’t fit into the back seat of your average crown vic and wide discretionary powers.

[FW190]

"10 minutes later guess who is on my left rear chewing cud with the 1000 mile stare"

I had a guy do that to me on I70, Denver to Kansas City. I finally got tired of his shit & with me in the left lane. boxed him in between to big trucks who where in the right lane. We drove for 75 miles like that.....boy was he pissed!

[oh8eleven]

Pretty good book and website about the same subject.

[whd23]

Better yet, they provide the HTML for embedding the graphic from their site on your own:

Via: Car Insurance Guide

[oscar oscar oscar]

Always seeking to be on the frontline of stupidity, Massachusetts has added to routine traffic woes by the use of (I’m sure very expensive) electronic traffic signs with brilliant messages like, “Click it or ticket” (seat belt warning). Drivers instinctively slow down to read them and ‘whammo’, instant traffic jam.