this post was submitted on 18 Apr 2026
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Fuck Cars

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Those who use the bike know this very well: in the city, speeding motorists overtaking other cars, only get one thing: they arrive first to the next red.

With a simple model, the author estimated the probability that one car that overtakes another, will then be reached again at a later red light. Then he estimated the probability that the same thing will happen when there are multiple successive traffic lights, as usual in the cities.

The result is that as fast as an aggressive driver goes, the presence of multiple traffic lights makes it virtually certain that a slower driver will catch up

So, if someone aggressively overcomes you, when you reach him at the next traffic light, you can tell him that it is mathematically proven that he/she is an idiot.

In addition, this study has implications for the 30 km/h city, demonstrating how in urban areas the traffic lights determine the travel times, not the maximum speed reachable between one traffic light and the next.

The original scientific article is here: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/13/4/260310/481212/The-Voorhees-law-of-traffic-a-stochastic-model

crossposted from: https://poliversity.it/users/rivoluzioneurbanamobilita/statuses/116419204210303856

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[–] MachineFab812@discuss.tchncs.de -5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You're the reason so many roads have a minimum-speed of 40mph. You're right that honking at you and trying to pass when there isn't PLENTY of room to do so is pointless, but only those two things, and I doubt the article is about your specific brand of non-sense.

[–] driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 4 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Tell me how useful is a minimum speed if they're going to stop anyway on the next red light? If anything it shows how stupid is having speed limits higher of 30kmh in cities

[–] MachineFab812@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

You realize light-timings are calibrated and coordinated based-on intended traffic speeds, right? Just because the speeders get stopped at the next light doesn't mean a too-slow driver doesn't get stopped by that same light after the speeder's got their green and gone-on.

Apparently you've never been on one of the roads I mentioned long-enough to notice they tend to have 4-lanes and lights spaced over a mile-apart, but even on a regular road with room to pass, demanding no-one do-so while you putter-along at just-over-half the speed-limit is asinine. Drivers can pass farm-equipment that takes up a lane-and-a-half, stopped emergency-vehicles/cops, mail-trucks, busses, street sweepers and dump-trucks, but not you?

So where's the part about what your asking in any-way-resembles sharing the road again? The article doesn't even mention bikes, golf-carts, or glorified mobility-scooters, btw.

Oh, and it literally says the opposite of what OP claims, even between motor-vehicles moving with normal traffic, not obstructing it:

That means, on average, the lead of one car over the other remains the same after the light as before.

The results suggest the idea the slower car will inevitably catch up at the lights is something of an illusion.