5 ms·

I find this happens a lot more in some countries than others, and it's not down to levels of traffic on the road, it's down to driving habits. I think the UK h

by kokey 11y ago

I find this happens a lot more in some countries than others, and it's not down to levels of traffic on the road, it's down to driving habits. I think the UK has done well with driver education and variable speed limits to mitigate this, and zipper merging is the norm.

smhg 11y ago
Is it based on your own experience? Or you read it somewhere? In which countries did it happen more?
- kokey 11y ago
  The last time I counted, I have driven in 12 different countries. I found this certainly happens a lot in South Africa and a bit in various parts of Spain and Ireland. It seems to happen a lot less in the UK and Portugal.
  - sergiosgc 11y ago
    Funny you say that about Portugal. I'm Portuguese, and I concur, although I always thought of my opinion as biased. It does not take many drivers acting responsibly to fix a wave jam. Interestingly, culturally, is that this responsible action is viewed here as a relaxed take on traffic. When the line restarts, some drivers take their time shifting into first gear, and then take a lot of time to increase their speed. They effectively buffer cars behind them from the stop-and-go. If you get two of these in a row, it's enough for the stop and go effect to dissipate. If you do this on the road, prepare to be overtaken by someone "in a rush", and prepare to ignore the action, although it's acceptable to gesticulate and swear at the car ahead :-)
cones688 11y ago
I think has a lot to do with manual transmission which allows for natural and controlled engine breaking, thus not creating the brake light to come on (and therefore the wave of copy-cat type braking).
- kokey 11y ago
  The worst I've seen has been in Johannesburg in South Africa, where automatic transmission is rare. I used to refer to it as concertina traffic before I knew it was called a traffic wave, and the concertina is a popular instrument in South Africa amongst the ancestors of the people who are usually responsible for these waves.
  - Leszek 11y ago
    > and the concertina is a popular instrument in South Africa amongst the ancestors of the people who are usually responsible for these waves I'm not sure what you're trying to imply there, but it seems a bit racist? Or am I just being ignorant?
greeneggs 11y ago
I wish California would put traffic mitigation into its high-school driver's education classes. Knowing the rules of the road and driving safely are important, but so is reducing traffic, and some simple information could save a lot of time in traffic jams.

by kokey 11y ago

smhg 11y ago

Is it based on your own experience? Or you read it somewhere? In which countries did it happen more?

kokey 11y ago
The last time I counted, I have driven in 12 different countries. I found this certainly happens a lot in South Africa and a bit in various parts of Spain and Ireland. It seems to happen a lot less in the UK and Portugal.
- sergiosgc 11y ago
  Funny you say that about Portugal. I'm Portuguese, and I concur, although I always thought of my opinion as biased. It does not take many drivers acting responsibly to fix a wave jam. Interestingly, culturally, is that this responsible action is viewed here as a relaxed take on traffic. When the line restarts, some drivers take their time shifting into first gear, and then take a lot of time to increase their speed. They effectively buffer cars behind them from the stop-and-go. If you get two of these in a row, it's enough for the stop and go effect to dissipate. If you do this on the road, prepare to be overtaken by someone "in a rush", and prepare to ignore the action, although it's acceptable to gesticulate and swear at the car ahead :-)

cones688 11y ago

I think has a lot to do with manual transmission which allows for natural and controlled engine breaking, thus not creating the brake light to come on (and therefore the wave of copy-cat type braking).

kokey 11y ago
The worst I've seen has been in Johannesburg in South Africa, where automatic transmission is rare. I used to refer to it as concertina traffic before I knew it was called a traffic wave, and the concertina is a popular instrument in South Africa amongst the ancestors of the people who are usually responsible for these waves.
- Leszek 11y ago
  > and the concertina is a popular instrument in South Africa amongst the ancestors of the people who are usually responsible for these waves I'm not sure what you're trying to imply there, but it seems a bit racist? Or am I just being ignorant?

greeneggs 11y ago

I wish California would put traffic mitigation into its high-school driver's education classes. Knowing the rules of the road and driving safely are important, but so is reducing traffic, and some simple information could save a lot of time in traffic jams.