April 28th road closures
El Paso is currently in a state of constant road construction. Whether its the GO-10 project on I-10 or the El Paso streetcar project downtown, there is a good chance El Paso drivers run into construction traffic one way or another. While it may be easy to blame everyday traffic on construction, it is important to note that it is not construction that is always behind a traffic jam, and neither is an accident; what may lie behind the traffic jam is you.
While it seems far fetched to blame a whole back up on I-10 to just one driver, it’s a very real possibility and something El Paso sees almost everyday. I-10 East and Sunland park for example is a prime location for morning traffic. It has an on ramp that feeds traffic to an already narrow three lane highway. A tight left curve that forces drivers to slow down on mile marker 14, It also has a construction zone that can distract those driving down I-10. What seems to slow drivers down the most is that curve that constantly brings brake lights with it.
When one car has to slow down for a curve because they were speeding in the first place, it forces the car behind to do the same. This phenomena in its most technical term is called “histeresis”. In it’s simplest form its called a chain reaction; all it takes is one car to start a traffic jam.
“If somebody is driving right behind you that causes them to brake, and then the effect is the car behind them brake and the car behind them and you get this accordion stop and go traffic,” TxDot Spokeswoman Jennifer Wright said. “that’s actually a condition called histeresis its a mathematical memory that causes that accordion long after the car that initially caused it is gone”.
The problem most drivers experience on I-10 by Sunland Park or Loop 375 by Montwood or US-54 by Diana is that they are speeding and have to suddenly hit the brakes for whatever reason forcing everyone behind them to do the same. While many drivers may not be aware that they are doing this, or it has now become a bad habit, there is something that everyone can do. This is something driving instructor Jaime Canalda teaches his students everyday.
“Space management is allowing yourself enough space one or two or three car links in front of you to be able to react, to brake appropriately, without causing the guy in the back to panic, space management, allow your self an out,” Jaime Canalda said.
The biggest solution to this daily slow down caused by histeresis is just slowing down. Allowing yourself enough space between you and the car in front of you is crucial to keeping traffic flowing everyday. By allowing extra space, one can be cut off by other drivers without having to slam on their brakes. This is something that Jennifer Wright not only thinks will help alleviate traffic, but more than that, is just a common courtesy.
“if you have that buffer zone its far easier for people to get in” Wright said. If your maintaining a safe following distance you don’t have to break to allow a car in and everything will flow much more smoothly”.
