Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!genrad!decvax!harpo!floyd!vax135!ariel!hou5f!hou5a!hou5d!hogpc!houxm!ihnp4!ihuxi!otto From: otto@ihuxi.UUCP Newsgroups: net.physics,net.auto Subject: Re: physical laws of freeway traffic? Message-ID: <451@ihuxi.UUCP> Date: Sun, 19-Jun-83 02:08:49 EDT Article-I.D.: ihuxi.451 Posted: Sun Jun 19 02:08:49 1983 Date-Received: Wed, 22-Jun-83 00:10:58 EDT Lines: 15 Regarding the comment of "visual constriction" slowing traffic down, I have also noticed the same thing. On the expressway from Naperville to Chicago there is one place where traffic is almost always slow. Once this section is passed, traffic speeds up. There is rarely any physical reason for the slowdown, such as a stalled car, but there *is* a psychological reason. This particular stretch of roadway is psychologically constricted, in that for about 1/4 mile there are no shoulders on either the left or right sides. The road feels more cramped to drive on than do the other sections, and apparently many people react to this feeling by slowing down. Once the shoulders reappear on both sides everything feels OK again, and traffic speeds up. George Otto Bell Labs, Indian Hill ----------------------