Traffic on the Roads and the Link to the Chaos Theory
I'm no physicist by any stretch of the imagination, but before you dismiss my thoughts on this topic, ask yourself this question: Do you really believe that traffic jams are a natural phenomenon, as the "chaos theory" suggests? We're talking about traffic here, not the physical properties of molecules or naturally-occuring weather patterns. As humans, we alone are responsible for both the smooth flow of traffic and the headache-inducing backups. We are seated behind the steering wheel. We are in control of how fast or slow we want our vehicles to move. Traffic jams are caused by one thing and one thing only. Somebody is driving too slowly!
Certainly, we as drivers will come upon obstacles that are out of our control. But one must remember that these events are in themselves man-made. An accident may take place, but somebody is at fault. Mystically intriguing as it may sound, accidents are not the result of divine intervention. Instead, somebody likely wasn't watching where they were going. Even in the case of a mechanical glitch such as sudden brake failure or an accelerator that becomes stuck to the floor, it can inevitably be traced back to one of two human errors: negligent maintenance or poor workmanship on the part of the manufacturer. When an accident occurs, we slow down to avoid the debris. Perhaps we are redirected to a different lane. Finally, we are morbidly curious as the scene of an accident unfolds before our eyes. As a result, we creep by as slowly as we can to bear witness to the spectacle. Those behind us are therefore forced to reduce their speed to a crawl as well. And so eventually, like a coupon clipper at a supermarket's cash register who has shoppers backed up halfway to the rear of the store, we have created a traffic jam.
Stoplights were invented to control and regulate traffic in urban areas. Without them, every driver would be involved in a figurative game of Russian Roulette as he or she braved their way through an intersection. But a problem exists, and it's a big one. Far too many drivers don't instantly proceed when the light turns green. They instead pause for a few seconds. This in turn causes the person behind to be delayed for a few more seconds. The third person will be further delayed by yet a few more seconds. Eventually the unfortunate individual half a city block back in line has to sit through yet another red light before finally getting through the crossing. If people would just go when that light turned green and furthermore get up to speed as soon as possible, I would venture to guess that over 90% of city traffic jams could be eliminated.
Finally, we musn't forget the dreaded road construction. We're driving down the Interstate at 65-70 mph. We see a sign that indicates a work zone ahead. Only one lane is open to traffic, so we are instructed to reduce our speed to 45 mph. But do you want to know what really happens? We merge into the single lane, but instead of doing so a steady 45 mph, we find ourselves crawling at 10 or 15 mph! Why is this? The short answer: Some moron up front is driving 30 mph too slow, thereby forcing everyone behind to do the same! Forget about physics here, folks. It shouldn't matter whether there are two cars or two thousand cars merging into one lane. If everyone would drive 45 mph, traffic wouldn't be backed up for five miles. This seems like a no-brainer to me.
All it takes is one solitary person driving too slowly to begin the chain reaction that results in traffic jams. As I said, I'm no Stephen Hawking, but that's my theory and I'm sticking to it.
