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premise noun - a previous statement or proposition from which another is inferred or follows as a conclusion

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You are on your way home when suddenly you enter a traffic jam. It seems there is no logical reason for this. There are no accidents, no traffic lights, or any restrictions to cause traffic jams. So what is the reason for it?

Often this type of traffic jams is caused by the so-called phantom traffic. This is a relatively new phenomenon but we are on the way to resolve the problems that are causing it and once and for all to end the inconveniences everyone of us is experiencing.

Phantom traffic appears when a large number of cars are moving on a road with insufficient spacing between them. A large number does not mean the road cannot take more automobiles but the little distance between the vehicles creates a premise for traffic waves. If one driver suddenly lowers its speed all drivers behind him will lower their speed increasingly more and more as this wave can travel backward indefinitely. If the spacing between the cars is more than 35 meters little changes in the speed of separate cars can be easily overcome. 

Often due to a lack of information about the state on the road drivers start overtaking others and increase their speed finally leading to phantom traffic and stop-and-go traffic. 

This problem is serious not only because the people living and working in big cities are spending a great amount of their time commuting but also because it creates additional side-effects. Effects like unnecessary burning of fuel which pollutes our already polluted cities. 

The solution on the other side turned out to be easily achievable and we are on the way to solving this problem. Self-driving cars can adjust their way of moving with the surrounding cars and receive precise information about the road conditions ahead. This way they can lower the chances of traffic jams and accidents. 

Experiments show that we do not need that many autonomous cars on the streets. According to experts, one such car is enough for 10 human drivers to control the way the traffic flows and minimize phantom traffic.

What causes traffic jams?