XZtc0jmZvywdz0xQJrt1mKS4j4DmuLuFwL8cWjzDnCqXNP1mPOhuakRUyFcgrjsSkXI=h900' alt='The Highway Code 2013 Pdf' title='The Highway Code 2013 Pdf' />What Causes Mysterious Highway Backups NPRSometimes highway traffic jams up for no apparent reason. Theres no accident, and no real reason to step on the brakes except to avoid hitting the car in front of you. What causes these backups An MIT scientist thinks hes found a way to prevent these tie ups. ARI SHAPIRO, HOST If you find yourself stuck in holiday traffic this weekend, our next story wont help you much, but it does bring hope for a less stressful future. A computer scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology thinks hes found a way to eliminate at least one kind of really annoying traffic jam. NPRs Joe Palca explains. JOE PALCA, BYLINE If youve done even a modicum of highway driving, youve probably experienced this Youre moving along at a pretty good clip when all of a sudden traffic slows to a crawl. You inch along for a while, and then just as suddenly, the traffic starts moving again. BERTHOLD HORN Theres no accident. Theres no one speed trapping, and youre puzzled. Whats going on PALCA Thats Berthold Horn, the MIT computer scientist. The Highway Code 2013 Pdf' title='The Highway Code 2013 Pdf' />So what is going on Horn says it just takes one driver to cause the problem. HORN A typical case would be someone slams on the brakes just for a short moment. The car behind them is forced to slam on the brakes and so on back upstream. PALCA Horn says its like a wave flowing backwards. People who study this talk about chaotic systems and positive feedback, but the practical consequences are that the amount drivers have to slow down increases the further back you are from the original incident. HORN There may be someone who is forced to actually stop. Ps3 Movie Fix 2.0. PALCA But Horn thinks hes onto a way to smooth out that wave and keep traffic flowing. His method involves not only keeping track of the car in front of you but the car behind you, as well. It may seem counterintuitive, but according to his calculations, that can prevent these phantom tie ups. HORN The easiest way to think about it at first is youre trying to maintain a distance halfway between the car ahead and the car behind. PALCA Doing that will smooth out the traffic. Now to make the scheme really work, Horn says you need cars that can do the forward and backward monitoring on their own and make the necessary adjustments automatically. EBK005_tab_large.jpg?v=1427816143' alt='The Highway Code 2013 Pdf' title='The Highway Code 2013 Pdf' />Assembly Bill No. CHAPTER 354 An act to amend the Budget Act of 2013 Chapter 20 of the Statutes of 2013 by amending Items 05400010140, 05400010183, 0650001. Acceptance. By submitting a query or by using the SWITRS information, you signify your agreement to all terms, conditions, and. But Horn says there would be some benefit if lots of people kept track of their spacing using their rear view mirrors and didnt tailgate. HORN Once I came up with this idea, I changed my own driving behavior. PALCA Horn says hes actually measured a small improvement in his commute as a result. Of course you cant spend too much time looking in the rear view mirrors that will cause its own set of problems. Joe Palca, NPR News. ZQukMzNk/hqdefault.jpg' alt='The Highway Code 2013 Pdf' title='The Highway Code 2013 Pdf' />Copyright 2. NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb. Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record.