Why does the motorway stop dead then move freely for no reason???

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Jophepha

I think it's that old Radio 2 travel bulletin favourite 'Sheer Weight of Traffic'

julie s

ONE DONUT DAYDREAMING HITS HER BRAKES THE DONUT DRIVING TOO CLOSE TO HER HITS THEIRS THUS CAUSING A DOMINO EFFECT NEXT THING YOU KNOW NO ONES GOING ANYWHERE FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES! A GOOD DRIVER SHOULD NOT NEED TO USE THEIR BRAKES ON A MOTORWAY!!!

hersheba

It is to do with the amount of traffic and how close each car is to the one in front. Cars up ahead start breaking gently and subsequent vehicles each break harder until a point is reached whereby cars actually stop, causing the blockage.

ackers

Apparently, it is caused by too many drivers driving too close to the car in front - one or two brake and it's like the dominoe effect and hey presto, you've a traffic jam for no reason!!

barney

I remember a study on TV that said it is caused by someone not paying attention and having to brake hard when they realise they are about to miss there exit or bump another car then the cars behind them have to brake sharp to avoid him and so on as it takes a while to build up speed again it causes a temporary blockage as other daydreamers rush in to the slower traffic .

Joe 90

It is to do with mathematics, an equation related to linear waves.

crazeetaxi

As with 99% of annoying stuff on the roads, it's caused by the people who should not have licences because they know nothing about DRIVING beyond how the clutch, gearstick and steering works.

Few people seem to have a basic understanding of how to actually DRIVE, rather than just the operation of a piece of machinery that most people practice.

CountTheDays

You mean the 'traffic' stops dead...
It's caused by cars breaking when there is a lot of traffic - vehicles will be traveling too close together so that the wave effect of the original vehicle's breaking will be amplified as it travels back down the line. Vehicles further back will be forced to stop and thus the whole road is blocked. It takes a while for everything to start up again.

Barking mad

Mostly caused by lorries, one trying to overtake the other, hence blocking the middle lane for 5 minutes.

lulu

hope you get an answer to this - I think it stems from the speed limits they display - had the same on the M3 yesterday...........down to 5 mph, then straight up to 70mph no accidents, no nothing - puzzling ???

elmafuddyesmate

There were some problems inbetween J15-16 Swindon but don't know what was wrong with it. A few weeks ago they had something silly like 4 crashes in the same day on that bit! Half the time it's people slowing down to look - ewww!!

Cristobal

Because people usually merge onto the highway from onramps which can slow it up. There are also alot of dumb drivers out there as well that cause traffic jams.

isildurs_babe

death eaters... damn them!

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