PSY 409 March 29, 2007

The Pinch Effect

Cynthia Crabtree

 

 

Instructions for this activity are found at:

www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy26/g26-oral1.htm

Instructor: Dr. Leon James

 

Beaty, William.  Traffic Waves: Sometimes one Driver can Vastly Improve Traffic. 

Online at:

Traffic Waves

 

  1. Intro.
    1. The web-site shows insight into “slow-and-go” traffic. 

                                                              i.      Traffic waves- an anomaly caused by one car.  The car slows during a traffic jam and all of the cars following behind are forced to slow in a chain reaction.

                                                            ii.      “Slow-and-go” traffic- caused by merging cars, accidents, and speeding

                                                          iii.      Waves can be halted by leaving room in front of your vehicle (roughly two car lengths), remaining at a consistent speed limit, and forward thinking

1.      Standing wave- Also known as the “rubber-necker wave” without the rubber-necking.  It is characterized by a traffic jam phasing backwards in a particular spot.

 

  1. Cutting Edge Research

      Slow slow Quick quick

    1. This article shows that most traffic jams have an obvious cause

             i. A blocked lane or a bottleneck on a multi-lane highway. An exit or entry lane can disrupt             the flow as cars slow down to leave or to let others onto the road.

             ii. A jam can also result from a more insidious factor: a single driver whose speed fluctuates                   unpredictably.

                        1. At low volume, cars move more or less independently, achieve their preferred                                      speed, and change lanes at will.

                         2. At high volume, the smallest disturbances trigger a jam of slow-moving or can                                      even stop traffic.

                         3. At intermediate volumes, the flow may become stable

                 b. All of this is well understood, and may help traffic planners to design speed                                                          restrictions and junctions that minimize jams

      Down this Road  This website describes an experiment on the physics of self-organization.

                  a. Everyone is familiar with the puzzling, not to say vexing, phenomenon of spontaneous jams.

                  b. Then comes rush hour, and the traffic density rises suddenly. There is less room for                   maneuver without risk of collision, and the average speed decreases.

      Conclusively, the website continues to explain how “each driver becomes a mere particle arrayed       according to the broader plan of the self-organized flow”.

  1. What others say: (researched by Tiffany Lee on guro.net)

Kuro5hin

    1. There were a lot of mixed comments on this web-site. 

                                                              i.      Support:

1.      Some individuals tried Beaty’s theory and found that leaving space in front of their vehicle helped to alleviate traffic, as did I.

                                                            ii.      Negative:

1.      Others noted that the empty space was taken advantage of by others and had no effect on traffic.

2.      Some individuals said there are more useful ways to alleviate traffic other than leaving an empty space.  For example, staying in your lane, moving over well before you exit, or timing traffic lights so they go off simultaneously.

 

Really Awesome Things (Researched by Tiffany Lee)

    1. This blogger has several opinions about Beaty’s theory

                                                              i.      He states that people may view leaving gaps in front of your vehicle as achieving two things:

1.      Upsetting people behind you ( I personally do not agree with this statement)

2.      Not getting you home any faster (possibly safer though?)

                                                            ii.      He also says that although impatient people may be frustrated with the space in front of you:

1.      They could become relaxed due to less stop-and-go traffic

2.      Fewer road rage and aggressive driving incidents

3.      Most likely they’ll get home at relatively the same time (because of the lack of stop-and-go traffic)

 

  1. Conclusively, my support for William Beaty’s theory of traffic waves is confirmed.  Although Tiffany Lee found her personal experiment to be a little difficult to support.
    1. They have discovered this by experimenting with the theory personally
    2. Educating about this theory could prevent traffic congestions.

 

 

Related Links

 

Automobile traffic

This web-site provides the definition for “traffic” as well as some other statistics related to traffic.  These statistics include crash ratings and vehicle safety ratings.  This web-site is extremely helpful because it provides a browser for more automobile related information

           

NHTSA

This government based web-site is called the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  It provides information on vehicles up to date recalls, alcohol related traffic accident statistics, and child safety seats.  The information on this web-page is very helpful for those who are curious about traffic related statistics and information.

 

Traffic Accidents FAQ

Since accidents are so prevalent in today’s society, it is important to know what to do if you get in an accident.  This web-site provides helpful information for those who have got into an automobile accident.  Something I found interesting on the web-site was strategies to fighting a traffic ticket.  For all those who feel they were wronged by an officer, you should check this out.

 

 

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