Study: Aggressive and timid drivers both cause traffic jams
September 22nd, 2010 - 12:54 am ICT by Aishwarya BhattSep 21 (THAINDIAN NEWS) A new research by Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Lyon in France has revealed that if all drivers behaved the same way, then there would rarely be a traffic jam on the street.
Researchers say the incidents of traffic jams on the streets will drop considerably if drivers learn to be patient enough for the car in front of them and “too-careful” drivers reduce the gap between themselves and the front car as well.
However the researchers blame timid drivers more than aggressive drivers for increase in traffic jams. The researchers also identified that traffic jam increase fuel consumption thereby increasing the amount of emission to the environment as well as increasing the risk of accident.
The researchers say when drivers change their speed, it affects the way other drivers on the road react thereby reducing the speed. However the researchers said they could not identify where exactly the ripple effect causes the jam, but they estimate that the jam can start off at some 20 miles back when there is change in speed of a driver.
In the case of timid drivers, researchers say they slow down sharply, when the car in front of them changes speed causing further traffic jams. The researchers however maintained that accidents and roadblocks remain the biggest cause of traffic jams.
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Tags: accidents, aggressive drivers, careful drivers, cause traffic jams, fuel consumption, gap, georgia institute of technology, institute of technology, lyon, ripple effect, risk, roadblocks, traffic jam