Drivers Flow Like Water

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I have noticed that, if I drive about five kilometres per hour slower than the average traffic on Highway 401 (which is about twenty kilometres per hour faster than the signed speed limit), cars pass me in waves. Young Drivers of Canada note that most drivers tend to drive in herds. Packs of cars move along roads at high speeds, separated by areas of little traffic. Drive slower than the pack average and the pack will pass you, and you will enter a "sweet spot" where you are practically alone on the highway, with cars more than ten car lengths before or behind you.

Now, according to this site, my technique may be improving traffic on the 401. Again, using wave theory, my actions could end up smoothing out the waves, actually improving the throughput of the highway. The concept of road-raging, shortcoming-overcompensating, red car drivers unintentionally causing the traffic slowdowns that they so hate smacks of poetic justice, but the man's wave arguments are strangely compelling, and perhaps the OPP should consider a rolling barrier in order to smooth out jams. Whatever the case, the website is interesting and well worth your attention.

Planners also ascribe to the liquid/wave theory of traffic, noting that increasing the capacity of a major road will not decrease congestion, since more water (i.e. cars) will simply flow in from elsewhere. It all begs the question: if we as drivers are actually water molecules who think, why don't we think more?


The folks who gave us the so-bad-it's-good closed captioning for The Fellowship of the Ring are at it again. Check out these screen captures from pirated versions of The Two Towers circulating in Japan.

Thanks to I, Feelafel for both links.


Erin ended this past week walking on a cloud. Lorna Crozier, a Canadian poet that Erin much admires, but hasn't met (yet), submitted a back cover blurb for Erin's World War II poetry project Ghost Maps. To say that it was a good review is an understatement.

Really, what could be better than to receive a glowing review from someone you really admire?


Despite my plans to go out and write, Saturday turned into a day to stay in and veg. And I think we're the better for it. I did get another thousand words or so done on the rewrite of Distractions.

It's a beautiful day out there now, however, and I think we'll be heading out.

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