Once again, you find yourself stuck in a traffic jam for no apparent reason. You look ahead and around, looking for a cause for this sudden stop, but there are no accidents, construction sites or other visible obstacles. How is it possible? How and why are these traffic jams generated?
A traffic jam is as common on our roads as getting in the car, and it often seems to materialize out of nowhere. Chaotic, unpredictable, but constant over time. Can we put an end to them? Where do traffic jams come from for no reason?
Research from Nagoya University in Japan has shown that these “ghost traffic jams” can be caused by human driving behavior. A single car that brakes slightly can set off a chain reaction, creating a domino effect that paralyzes traffic.
Like a wave moving backwards: one driver brakes, the next does the same, and so on. This inefficient braking and acceleration pattern not only causes frustration, but increases fuel consumption and travel time.
Mathematical models used to study traffic corroborate this idea, suggesting that smoother and more predictable driving could alleviate congestion on the roads.
Self-driving cars still make traffic worse
Thus, the introduction of autonomous cars could be a partial solution. Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, indicate that these vehicles, thanks to their artificial intelligence systems, could maintain a constant distance between them, reducing the need to brake abruptly.
However, a recent incident in San Francisco, where Cruise’s self-driving cars caused a major traffic jam after losing their wireless signal, raises questions about reliance on the technology. Especially in a mixed environment of manual and automatic drivers. The arrival of artificial intelligence could change everything.
Be that as it may, the event reveals an interesting facet: even advanced technology is not immune to traffic problems. Although self-driving cars promise to improve road traffic, their effectiveness can be compromised by new unforeseen factors such as signal loss.
In this sense, the balance between technology and human behavior in driving remains key. Unexplained traffic jams are the result of small human actions that accumulate, creating significant disruptions to the flow of traffic.
While Self-driving cars could offer a partial solution, Its reliability is still subject to the limitations of current technology. Thus, the challenge continues to be how to harmonize human behavior with technological innovations to achieve more fluid and efficient traffic.
