Re: JPM not making his own life easy

• From: "Bigbird" <BigBird.usenet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
• Date: Wed, 5 Apr 2006 12:24:48 +0100

Bigbird wrote:

LOL. Hey, that is similar to what i tend to say about speed
limits. If i keep doing twice the speed limit, i can not possibly
be even near the accident that our TAC ads say i will have, if i
am doing only 5Ks over. ;-)

Standard argument:

Drive a little bit faster => arrive a little sooner => less cars on
the road, less conjestion, less accidents.

Other than the compression waves that extend behind the guy who
brakes that's true. Unfortunately, on a busy road, that effect
overwhelms any benefit from speed.

Not to mention the little issue of each peiece of road being
safety limited to one car per two seconds per lane even when it is
flowing. Less cars overall means nothing at the choke-points.

Fine the slow coaches!

It's the people that don't leave gaps that are the problem.
Typically, everyone's worried the agressive cutters are getting an
unfair advantage, so refuse to leave gaps for them. No gaps for them
means inefficient merging and lane changes for _everyone_, which leads
to merging and turnoff points causing slow-downs.
It also compounds that compression wave problem (which don't form
at all if everyone's running big enough gaps).

Even when you're crawling, even when you're jammed, you should
leave enough room for a car or three to nip infront of you, or the
idiot infront to brake for no reason, and each driver doing so can
make a big difference. When the agressive cutters inevitably nip in,
ever so gently ease up for a while to make /more/ room.


Ultimately, city roads are limited by the rate people can get off
the end of them, and everyone else should drive just slow enough as
not to close up with those infront as they do: so avoiding the
merge-jams and compression waves that /really/ slow everyone down.

• Follow-Ups:
  • Re: JPM not making his own life easy
    • From: tussock

• References:
  • JPM not making his own life easy
    • From: CatharticF1
  • Re: JPM not making his own life easy
    • From: Da Frank
  • Re: JPM not making his own life easy
    • From: Bigbird
  • Re: JPM not making his own life easy
    • From: tussock

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