Do drivers who keep gaps in stop-and-go traffic worsen it? (2012)

Re:Do drivers who keep gaps in stop-and-go traffic worsen it... by sandworm101 on Tuesday December 08, 2015 @07:46PM (#10701053)

No. Please leave lots of gaps ... ones just long enough for my motorcycle to sneak into. In all seriousness, in many parts of the world it is natural for two-wheelers to filter past stopped cars to fill every available space in stop and go traffic. Given that bikes fit more people into a given space (pushbikes and motorcycles etc) having the cars leave gaps while stopped can be more efficient. But only where there are enough bikes willing to filter, which is rare in north america.

What is really interesting to me is the math behind leaving extra space in moving traffic. I have to cross a major bridge every day (Vancouver, Lions Gate Bridge) which is often only one lane for my direction. A driver leaving 5 or 10 seconds worth of space impacts everyone behind them. 10 seconds x 350 cars means that one person leaving too much of a gap is actually creating an hour's worth of delay.

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Re:Do drivers who keep gaps in stop-and-go traffic worsen it... by vectorjohn on Tuesday December 08, 2015 @07:51PM (#10701078)

One person leaving too much of a gap doesn't create 10 seconds x 350 cars delay. They add 10 seconds delay. You'd only get that hour if everyone had a 10 second gap.

And nobody leaves a 5-10 second gap. That's huge. The DMV recommends something like 2-3 seconds.

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Re:Do drivers who keep gaps in stop-and-go traffic worsen it... by sandworm101 on Tuesday December 08, 2015 @07:55PM (#10701105)

You missed the point. I didn't mean they delayed any one person by an hour. They are delaying 350 people each by ten seconds ... a cumulative delay of an hour.

10 seconds on a bridge is not unusual. They are normally people looking at the view.

The kids around here are taught to "Increase your following distance ... to four seconds in bad weather conditions." In Vancouver, that is a not-small amount of the year.

http://www.icbc.com/driver-licensing/Documents/drivers5.pdf

At 75kph (normal speed on a rushhour bridge) 4 seconds means an 80 meter (90yard) gap. If everyone left such a gap any city would grind to a halt.

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Re:Do drivers who keep gaps in stop-and-go traffic worsen it... by vectorjohn on Tuesday December 08, 2015 @08:06PM (#10701146)

I didn't miss the point, I just don't think that's a meaningful number. What's meaningful is total throughput and each individual's time on the road. The 10 second gap doesn't much affect either.

Also, presumably they'll close the gap or leave the road at some point, at which time cars could (shouldn't) speed up and save their 8 seconds. But it's that kind of stupidity that causes the traffic waves anyway, to save 8 seconds.

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Re:Do drivers who keep gaps in stop-and-go traffic worsen it... by sandworm101 on Tuesday December 08, 2015 @08:15PM (#10701199)

I hope I am not seated in a row behind your's on my next flight. Those at the front of long lines have a moral obligation to all those behind them. Delaying hundreds of people for seconds is just as bad as delaying one person for an hour.

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