Average Drivers Causing Traffic Jams Through Poor Braking

DO YOU brake too often? If so, you could be one of the leading causes of traffic jams.

However, an active driver aid that’s becoming increasingly common in new cars could help lighten your lead foot and reduce logjams on busy roads.

Researchers from Vanderbilt University in the United States demonstrated how one vehicle can cause a chain reaction that affects hundreds of motorists.

Unnecessary braking was found to be the culprit for “phantom traffic jams”, causing a wave of braking that gets harder as it goes further down the line until the end vehicles come to a complete stop.

But adaptive cruise control (ACC) has been found to reduce significantly the impact of unnecessary braking.