Ford demonstrates tech that can stop phantom traffic jams

As people take to the roads to begin their vacations, congestion can quickly build on some of the more popular routes. On busy roads so called 'phantom' traffic jams can occur, when, seemingly without reason, traffic comes to a standstill.

Phantom traffic jams occur when drivers tap their brakes - setting off a chain reaction in traffic behind grinding to a halt. Now, Ford and researchers from Vanderbilt University, a private research university in Tennessee, U.S.A, have demonstrated that such hold-ups could be minimised with widespread use of technology already offered on Ford vehicles from the Fiesta small car to the Transit van.

During the demonstrations, three lanes of 12 vehicles each were tested on a closed high-speed oval simulating a highway. The lead vehicles in each lane slowed from 97km/h to 64km/h to mimic a traffic disturbance. Without the Active Cruise Control (ACC) technology, the drivers each braked harder than the vehicle ahead, which led to a braking wave that became more pronounced further down the traffic stream. The demonstration was repeated with all vehicles using adaptive cruise control set at 100km/h, just slightly higher than the lead vehicles to ensure the vehicles remained in a constant platoon. In these demonstrations, the ACC systems outperformed the human drivers in almost every braking situation.