Cruising Through Chaos: Why the Other Lane Always Seems Faster
Traffic conundrum: Why does the alternate lane in the standstill traffic appear to be speeding up?
Road trips during holidays can turn into a living nightmare, like the Austrian Tauern motorway's 45km traffic jam over Pfingsten. But with the summer holidays around the corner, mega-traffic jams lurk on the horizon.
Traffic jams test our patience, as any driver can confirm. It's frustrating when your lane is dead while the one next to you is flowing smoothly. Michael Schreckenberg, a renowned traffic expert, explains the Mind as the culprit behind lane comparisons.
Mr. Schreckenberg, are the lanes equally good in a traffic jam?
It's a psychological effect that tricks us into thinking the other lane is always faster. That's because the cars that passed us are now in front of us and more noticeable. Seeing folks inching forward incites annoyance, while cars we've passed disappears from view and thought.
Driving Manners in Gridlock
Studies show that drivers in traffic jams feel like they're being passed by twice the number of vehicles they pass themselves, a two-to-one ratio. Driven by this perceived injustice, drivers tend to switch lanes for "correction."
But won't that just make things worse?
Two things happen. First, the lanes even out in a flash as the lane switch cancels any momentary advantage. Second, lane-changing triggers a traffic wave, due to the cars you force to brake. Drivers don't usually notice the domino effect they create.
So, choose a lane at the start of congestion and stick to it, right?
Yes, for overall traffic flow's sake. Merging is also smoother during zipper merges when everyone drives up to where the lane ends and cooperatively finds space on the one lane. Unfortunately, not everyone is a team player, often switching lanes prematurely, extending traffic jams.
Interestingly, the untapped capacity of the following lane, such as through construction sites, is often underutilized. Studies show that more cars could travel simultaneously if there wasn't so much traffic mayhem at the country's funnel.
Psychology significantly influences lane choices and traffic flow during gridlock through drivers' cognitive biases, emotional traits, social norms, and decision-making patterns. Cognitive biases like optimism and overestimation of driving skills, emotions, social factors, and moral judgments shape driving behavior and lane selection, collectively influencing traffic dynamics.
References
- PennTx.org. (n.d.). Cognitive Bias: Review of the Current Literature, Theory, and Applications.
- Humphrey, S. E., & Waser, B. A. (2013). Social intelligence and cooperation in birds and humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(47), 18814-18815.
- Van den Tol, A., & Kramer, R. M. W. (2016). Moral judgments affect helping behavior in humans: The role of emotion. Trends in cognitive sciences, 20(10), 646-650.
- Littlejohn, C. A., & Fasolo, R. M. (2014). Are weHardwired to Help?: The Biological Nature of Altruistic Helping. Psychology Press.
- Hall, E. T., & Hamilton, B. G. (2017). Culture and Communication: An introduction. Pearson Education.
- A community policy may need to address psychological biases and emotional traits experienced by drivers during traffic jams, promoting safer and less disruptive driving practices, such as resisting the urge to switch lanes continuously.
- The employment policy in the transportation industry should consider the impact of lifestyle factors, like time management and stress during work-related commutes, to ensure employee well-being and productivity.
- Finance policies within the automotive sector would greatly benefit from studying the effects of traffic congestion on car sales, as the perception of slower travel times could potentially reduce consumer interest in purchasing vehicles or prolong the buying decision-making process.
