Look Ma, No Brakes

Posted by Eric de Place

01/03/2008 02:30 PM

Cures for congestion can come cheap.

When I was a little kid, I remember being stuck in gridlock on I-5. (Seattle had congested freeways even back in the 1970s, shocking as that sounds.) And I remember being perplexed that all the cars would slow down in heavy traffic. Instead of spacing out so far, I wondered, why couldn't they all just maintain 55 miles per hour and drive inches apart. As long as everyone agreed to drive the same speed and not hit the brakes, heavy traffic wouldn't require us to slow down. Right?

My parents didn't get it. Typical parents.

I changed my mind sometime after I got my driver's license. But now it turns out there's evidence that I was right all along.

A recent study by the National Academies of Science found that distracted drivers -- especially those with cell phones -- create congestion, mainly because they drive slower than the normal flow of traffic. And a new European study finds that excessive braking is a prime culprit for backing up highways. I told you so, mom and dad!

I guess the real lesson here is that there are some surprisingly small things we can do to ease congestion. Driver education and awareness, for example. Banning cell phones on the road maybe. New technology that helps drives braker smarter and more safely. There are probably dozens more little fixes that cumulatively could add up to meaningful relief.

On the down side, however, these fixes don't require blue ribbon panels or new layers of regional government or big new taxes for instrastructure </sarcasm>. And so politicians can still be accused of not doing anything about the traffic headache. But even so, it might be worth considering things we can do right here and now -- and for cheap -- to help ease highway congestion.

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Comments

Posted by JE 01/04/2008 09:22 AM

Which is how slowing typically congested freeways to 45 mph during peak times would help. If everybody slows, it prevents the clots from sudden braking from forming--and more cars get through in a shorter time. (It would also help a lot if drivers left enough distance between their car and the one in front to allow slowing without braking. If drivers realized that every time they put on the brakes they're wasting gas, and that the most gas-efficient driving requires more space in front of the car, it would be safer, too! Safe, cooperative driving. What a concept...)

Posted by Matt the Engineer 01/04/2008 02:58 PM

Brakes aren't allowed on track cycles. I believe this helps to keep close together (drafting) at high speeds, since you're assured that nobody changes speed quickly. Now you have me imagining a system that automatically turns off everyone's brakes on the freeway. You'd need much longer on/off ramps - or perhaps just turn on the ability to brake when stopped cars are on the road.

Posted by dave 01/05/2008 07:14 AM

I haven't seen any statistics or science on this, but I believe if slower drivers kept to slower right lanes some congestion relief could be achieved, with traffic within each lane moving at more consistent speeds.

Dave Gardner
Producer/Director
Hooked on Growth: Our Misguided Quest for Prosperity
www.growthbusters.com

Posted by Gonk 01/07/2008 09:49 AM

You could hook a line of cars together and then they could never collide as they would all slow down at the same rate. In fact, only the front car would need to have its engine running and simply pull all the others along - how energy efficient would that be?!
Lets call them errr.... Trains.