Traffic jams occur when the driving of a group of vehicles is saturated due to excess demand from the roads, which causes increases in travel times and excessive fuel consumption. We wanted to start this article at the beginning, that is, with the definition of ‘traffic jam’. However, surely all vehicle users will already know perfectly what it is. Especially if you live or work in large cities , where thousands of cars accumulate every day at peak times, resulting in one of the most frustrating events for drivers and passengers. But how do you get traffic congestion? The truth is that there are many factors involved that cause, or aggravate, these traffic jams, although the most frequent are a large volume of vehicles, road works, traffic accidents, etc.
Failed attempts
The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) has been in charge, for some time, of informing road users about the state of traffic on both television and radio, through its official website. However, this data does not appear to be sufficient to solve the problem. At this point, the most viable alternative we have left is technology . Currently, some cars can already be driven by themselves and there are roads that can charge electric vehicles. So, having turned these ideas more typical of a science fiction film than our day to day reality into reality, we should also be able to find some kind of technology that helps us reduce daily traffic jams.
The thing is that it is not easy to find a solution to a problem that affects so many people , who obviously do not behave identically or under the same laws, so it is difficult to predict their movements. This means that common patterns cannot be followed to find possible solutions derived from the technology that we have at our fingertips.
Driving assistance systems
Despite the difficulty, it is true that various manufacturers have shed some light on this whole issue. For example, phantom traffic jams, produced when drivers ahead of you brake triggering a chain reaction that causes traffic to stop, can be combated with Adaptive Cruise Control technology, which allows you to automatically slow down and accelerate to maintain the pace of the vehicle in front without fatigue or distraction. In this way, vehicles that use this driving assistance system reduce the impact of braking more than cars that do not have this technology activated.
Another help that can help us is emergency braking , since many traffic jams start due to a rear-end accident. This technology applies the brakes automatically if it detects that the car in front of us stops unexpectedly, so we will not collide with other vehicles, thus avoiding creating traffic congestion.
The GPS, which increasingly incorporate more utilities, are already capable of knowing, in real time, the state of traffic. So another good way to avoid a further traffic jam is to check your GPS maps before setting off. In this way, you will save time and money, as well as peace of mind.
