July 30, 2009Utterly Fascinating: Study Finds that Breaking Rules of the Road Helps Traffic Flow Optimally

photo via Edmund’s

J. Mark Sternberg’s article from yesterday’s LA Times article can be accessed here.  The first few paragraphs are displayed below:

“Green light, and right away my tach surges towards the redline. I keep my foot planted, sending me a fair amount over the speed limit before I even make it off the on-ramp. Smooth sailing for another 100 yards or so because the lane ends ahead. The sheep to my left merged about a mile ago, leaving beautiful, useful, open asphalt in front of me. I drive all the way to the end, then a quick lane change or two and I’m on my way. Someone is calling me a jerk or some other insult for sure, but I can’t hear him. He’s all the way back there.

People have been calling we, the drivers who actively move through traffic, all kinds of names over the years: jerk, psycho and my personal favorite: gas waster. But here comes a new one: good for traffic.

A new study released in Physical Journal E (a bunch of eggheads who study various forms of complicated physics) has found that traffic flows best when about 40% of drivers are breaking the rules of the road. This tends to help break up traffic and keep jams from happening…”