Freakonomics readers know that cars don’t cause traffic jams — drivers do.
New technology might eventually eliminate drivers altogether, but probably not anytime soon.
Meanwhile, at least one driver has taken matters into his own hands, posting YouTube videos of problem spots on his commute to embarrass transit officials into making repairs, the Los Angeles Times, reports.
Are more to follow?
and 
. You can also watch it on 
Here in CT a lot of traffic jams are caused by rubberneckers. You can have, say, a crashed vehicle safely off to the side of the road, obstructing nothing, but the idiots who drive by somehow HAVE TO slow down and peer at it … often on BOTH sides of the highway.
There really is zero excuse for it. This makes it the most preventable cause of traffic jams I can think of.
The police should start issuing tickets for rubbernecking. Perhaps they could set up a fake roadside accident, mount cameras on the wrecks, snap pictures of the jerks that slow down and peer at the wreck, then send them tickets in the mail (just as they do with red-light cameras). Drivers need to keep their eyes on the road ahead of them and stop craning over to see if there are any bodies on the ground (face it, there rarely are, so why bother?).
In some areas police are using temporary inflatable barriers to screen accidents from public view and thus prevent rubbernecking. This seems more efficient than issuing citations. After all, how do you distinguish a rubbernecker from an innocent person who is slowed down by the rubbernecker?
One idea I have been nursing for a long time is teaching people how to drive in ways that would speed traffic.
I assume that traffic simulations could show that different driving behavior would result in better flow in high traffic situations. For example, when should I cut in when I’m approaching a lane merge?
If traffic engineers know the answers, they’ve kept them secret from the general public. I’ve never seen a TV show or public service ad that said, “I you drive in *this way* it will improve traffic flow from X to Y.
A very simple rule is if you are not moving faster the the lane to your right (i.e., not passing) then you should move to the right. This keeps cars moving.
I agree that people who take their eyes off the road in front of them, especially in heavy traffic, are a problem, but can’t help but play devil’s advocate a little here, or at least try to respond to the idea that “There really is zero excuse for it” proclaimed by commenter #1.
Aren’t we supposed to learn from others’ mistakes? Isn’t it a valuable lesson to be able to see exactly how messed up you and your can get if you don’t pay attention while driving? It’s just ironic that our only opportunity to see such things is at a time that puts us in danger of another accident. I’m not sure issuing citations or putting up screen is really going to solve this sort of problem. Citations have not stopped people from speeding. And barriers are just another thing to look at and try to figure out what is behind them.
The place in the youtube video looks miserable. Hopefully high oil prices will stop sprawl and encourage urban renewal so people don’t have to drive as much.
I am not sure if education may maintain the flow of traffic. It’ll help up to a point. unless we cut the number of cars driving on it. Naturally, we would be able to handle those slower (or distracted) drivers *if* the volume on the road decreases. Only answer — public transportation and be considerate of the people in front, side, AND behind you.
#3, the reason that does not necessarily work. There are guidelines (as expressed by #4) but not everyone follows them. Other ideas are signaling properly. Cutting across lanes without signaling often triggers braking behind that driver which leads to slowdowns.
But the single biggest improvement is better road planning (number of lanes, where the roads are, number of left/right turn lanes at intersections) and intersection light planning (light timing, changes based on time-of-day patterns, protected left/right turn arrows). The problem with this is the expense if often excessive, especially to retrofit old roads as you run into problems with eminent domain or just plain funding issues.