It's really a matter of slow and inconsistent reaction to changes in speed, not the change in speed itself. The delayed reaction of one car causes it to deceler

It's really a matter of slow and inconsistent reaction to changes in speed, not the change in speed itself. The delayed reaction of one car causes it to decelerate more then they would have had to, then for the car behind the impact is greater and so on. Simulations suggest that as little as 20% of vehicles having computer-controlled reactions (very fast) would just about eliminate these shockwave traffic jams. Related, see #6 in this article: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/06/03/magazine/innovations-issue.html http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/06/03/magazine/innov...