October 30, 2008
Stumble It!Dealing with traffic jams has become such an integral part of the lives of those in big cities that we often don’t even think about it. We have accepted it as a constant. We think nothing of a sixty to ninety minute drive, one way, amid foul-smelling and tainted air. My question is, does it really have to be this way?
Vehicles can only go as fast as the traffic in front of them. If some cars start to slow down, many other cars behind them will be forced to slow down in a sort of domino effect.
The traffic jam must clear from the front. As soon as you are at the front, you must go as fast as you can, so the front will eventually move back towards the back. Once the front meets the back, the traffic jam no longer exists. The back usually continuously moves back as cars traveling at decent speeds hit the back of the traffic jam, so the front must be moved back quickly. This means that you must accelerate as quickly and as early as you can.
There is one final way to keep traffic jams down: don’t drive.
