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[On the left, traffic jam animation: tight-packed cars creep along a two-lane highway, and finally take turns moving forward into a single lane where the second lane is blocked.] [On the right: similar animation. Two lanes of widely-spaced cars merge at high speed. Two lanes of traffic merge into one like meshing gear teeth. They form one line which then races past the blocked lane without slowing.]

MERGING-LANE TRAFFIC JAMS,

A SIMPLE CURE

(GIF Animations are loading)
ON THE LEFT: NORMAL DRIVERS WHO PACK THEMSELVES TIGHTLY TOGETHER WHENEVER THE TRAFFIC COMES TO A STOP. NOBODY CAN MERGE EXCEPT AT THE END OF THE JAM. NOTE THEIR LOW SPEED.
ON THE RIGHT: DRIVERS WITH UNUSUAL BEHAVIOR: THEY ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO MERGE AHEAD OF THEM, AND THEY TEND TO MAINTAIN LARGE SPACES AHEAD, EVEN IF TRAFFIC SLOWS TO A CRAWL. MERGING IS EASY. SEE HOW MUCH FASTER THEY GO?

Traffic jams on highways are often triggered where two lanes must merge into one. Lanes of cars cannot merge if there are no large gaps between cars. Therefore, drivers who create large gaps between cars will ease this type of traffic jam.
SIMPLE, EH?



To ease this type of jam:

Amazingly enough, it is not necessary that EVERYONE do this. If only a few drivers will maintain large gaps during heavy traffic, then merging traffic is not forbidden, and the situation in the left-hand diagram can be prevented.

Yes you're right, you cannot eliminate every problem by simply making a big gap in front of your car. When there are too many cars on the road, traffic slows down. But if we use these special driving habits, the smaller jams can be erased, and stop-and-go traffic can be smoothed out. Since many traffic jams are caused by merging lanes, many traffic jams can be improved by the actions of just one driver.
NEXT, PAGE 4: FREQUENTLY-ASKED QUESTIONS

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