A Meditation On The Speed Limit
Why Hacker News recommends it
Used as a demonstration of how everyone obeying the speed limit disrupts traffic flow.
What it is
A three-minute student film from Campus MovieFest showing drivers in every lane holding exactly the speed limit on an Atlanta-area interstate and the traffic jam that results.
Recommended by 0 HN commenters across 0 different months, 2013 to 2024.
What Hacker News said
Cites steamer25 · 2013-10 · on “How traffic actually works”
I used to be skeptical of ramp metering until the day I drove several miles below the speed limit to 'celebrate' the anniversary of a ticket I'd received. Instead of driving 14 MPH over the limit, I drove 14 MPH under the limit (legally that time) as a form of radical civil obedience* . As expected, this caused quite a bit of unnecessary congestion. It actually turned out to be harder to sustain a backup* * once I entered the metered areas. The reason? Metering limits the number of idiots on the road at a given time. I.e., my attempt at being intentionally stupid was mitigated because the meters prevented the road from nearing saturation. The little bit of wiggle room on the road made it rel
Cites u801e · 2017-09 · on “What happens if you turn off the traffic lights?”
> I remember when they adopted the 55 mph speed limit. Some truck drivers in Michigan decided to protest it by obeying it. The resulting congestion was pretty painful for everybody. Some people actually did this on an interstate near Atlanta, Georgia a number of years ago and posted it on Youtube [1]. [1] [this video]
Cites Zak · 2024-07 · on “Future Ford's May Detect Speeding and Report You to the Cops”
That's essentially the situation on the highways through Atlanta. It's so extreme that some students made a video[0] demonstrating the extreme effect on traffic when drivers in every lane maintain the speed limit. Their conclusion is that the speed limit should be increased; there are other reasonable conclusions one might draw, but I would argue against the one that follows from your comment: that nearly every driver on the road deserves punishment. [0] [this video]