Effect of aggressive driving on formation of congestion

Abstract

In this paper we consider the effect of aggressive driving on the formation of congestion. Many studies have shown that aggressive motorists, who drive too fast and too close to the vehicle in front, or timid motorists, who leave a too big gap, send a "wave of deceleration" backwards, down the road and the traffic grinds to a halt. Such behaviour leads to the stop-start traffic jams which infuriate many motorists. Aggressive drivers, who do not leave enough space the car in front of them, and timid drivers who need a big gap between themselves and the cars surrounding them, gum up the works for everybody else. The researchers concluded that, on the whole, timid drivers create more problems than aggressive ones but on the other hand the timid driving belongs to forms of aggressive behaviour of drivers. And these traffic jams are not merely frustrating for motorists - they also lead to increased fuel consumption, more emissions and more accidents. An important issue is finding when a driver becomes aggressive. In Slovakia, we conducted a questionnaire survey among drivers and our contribution will describe the results of this research focused on the impact of aggressive behaviour on the possible fluidity of traffic flow. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.