Big City Driver
Preventing Traffic Jams and Road Rage, One Driver at a Time

Traffic Solution

The answer to all of our traffic problems is simple. Everybody needs to maintain eighty to one hundred foot intervals at all times on highways and ramps. And police need to enforce speed limits.  Yes, there will be back-ups getting on. But, isn't that better than back-ups all the way down the highway?

Every article I've read pertaining to this subject is either a scientific approach, relating it to gas particles in a tube (which would work only if everyone drove at the same speed), or a speeders view, trying to tell all of the slow vehicles to get out of the way.  It is true as Bill Beaty said, that space is the anti-traffic. Scientifically speaking, space is the opposite of traffic. And we need to create and maintain space to combat traffic.

It is also true as the speeders say, that a slow vehicle getting in front of you will slow you down (especially a truck, according to most of the speeders that I've heard whining.) But, if you want to receive goods, then we need to share the road with trucks.

Since so many vehicles are traveling at a different rate of speed, space is still the answer. After all, wouldn't you all agree that a car or truck cutting in front of you, only slows you down if you are tailgating? (As long as he is driving close to the same speed?) Think about it. I see it everyday when I drive. By maintaining a great following distance, I allow anyone to cut in front of me and they usually can pass someone else and get out of my way before I catch up.

It's the combination of taigating and trying to drive faster than the flow of traffic, that always causes people to step on their brakes. Especially those who are doing it!

A good example of this is, the way people often merge. They bunch together and try to drive faster than the flow of traffic, which of course makes them step on their brakes and sometimes, that brings the whole highway to a stop. 

Speeders need to be patient and go with the flow, instead of trying to go into a space that doesn't exist.

I am convinced that if everybody knew this and drove accordingly, there would never be another traffic jam on a highway.    And off the highway, on streets, a smaller interval would do, but space is still as important.

Did you ever get stuck in the middle of an intersection during peak traffic times? That would never happen to you if you simply go with the flow and keep some space in front. Enough space, so that someone else could cut in front of you without slowing you down. Even when you stop, keep enough space in front of your vehicle, so that a car or truck could go through. You are not going to get to your destination any sooner if you get five or a hundred feet closer to the car in front of you, so why bother? It's the tailgaters that always cause the jams.

Ask yourself this question: When traffic is heavy, averaging about 10 mph, how much space do you keep in front? Everybody has a number. 10 ft, 20 ft, 30? Whatever it is, answer this: When the car ahead of you moves out of your lane, do you close that gap to maintain your usual following distance? Of course most people do. So, with that in mind, you can see that, when someone cuts in front of us, then moves out of our lane, we are right back where we were, and so they really weren't in our way at all.

Ken Skaggs

Ten Keys to Safe City Driving
(Now available on Audio CD- Only $5)

10 Keys to Safe City Driving CD Cover

1. Understand Traffic Waves
2. Prevent Traffic Jams
3. Stay Calm
4. Do The Math
5. Be Predictable
6. Time Traffic Lights
7. Expect the Expected
8. Compensate for the Ignorant
9. Teach Others
10. Make Sure an Accident is Never Your Fault

Read more

Here are some satisfied customers-
*Old Dominion Freight Line
*Plastic Express
*Dart Container Corp.
*Van-Pak Trucking
*GD Eastlick Trucking Inc.
*Alex Express
*Kenny Smith Trucking
*and many more.

 

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