this post was submitted on 18 Apr 2026
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Fuck Cars

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Overtaking and going fast in urban areas is not only dangerous, but also useless: a mathematical demonstration (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) by lgsp@feddit.it to c/fuckcars@lemmy.world
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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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[–] psud@aussie.zone 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

They just made motorcycle filtering legal in my town, given how much quicker even slow bikes are than most cars it works well

[–] Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Yup, it should be legal everywhere, motorcycles accelerate faster than cars so it doesn't inconvenience car drivers, its safer since bikes don't get rear ended or backed into, and they spend less time in clumps of traffic.

Its better for everyone, but car drivers instinctively feel its unfair that someone else doesn't have to wait like they do.

[–] psud@aussie.zone 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Faster than most cars, my ev accelerates faster than the sport bike that probably* challenged me

*They revved a couple of times and looked at me, don't know another way of taking that

[–] Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 1 points 3 weeks ago

Faster than most cars, my ev accelerates faster than the sport bike

They were probably having fun, 3-4 seconds is common for both bikes and evs, but bikes need to work to actually keep both wheels on the ground, flip through the gears on time, and not just burn rubber, so most don't or can't actually get that performance out of the bike, though I hear newer bikes have more rider aids.