🚗 This experiment showed exactly how traffic jams can form even when there is no crash, construction or obvious bottleneck. ⠀ In 2008, researchers in Japan placed 22 cars evenly around a 230-meter circular track and instructed every driver to maintain roughly 30 km/h. ⠀ At first, the cars flowed smoothly with relatively even spacing between them. ⠀ But tiny differences in braking, acceleration and following distance gradually amplified from one driver to the next until several cars were forced to stop completely. ⠀ The slowdown then traveled backward through the traffic as a stop-and-go wave, even though the road ahead remained completely clear. ⠀ The experiment demonstrated how traffic flow can become unstable once vehicle density is high enough, creating the frustrating “phantom traffic jams” drivers experience on real roads. ⠀ Have you ever sat in traffic only to reach the end and realize absolutely nothing caused it? ⠀ What are your thoughts? 🤔💭 ⠀ FOLLOW 👉 @hypewhip for more fascinating automotive engine