Man captures video of a phantom traffic jam on a US highway which shows the real explanation of why you get stuck for no reason

A man captured a video of a phantom traffic jam on a United States highway, and it showed the real reason why you can get stuck for no reason.

Phantom traffic jams are some of the most annoying; you hit traffic, but there is no visible cause for it.

Footage recorded on I-85 in Georgia by Joe Miroe shows a road that was free of accidents, construction, or any other obstacle.

Then suddenly, every car in frame begins to slow down, and it gives us an amazing view of how these traffic jams happen.

What did the phantom traffic jam film show us?

The video was taken while there was a lot of traffic on a single, straight section of I-85.

In the footage, we can see the lead car briefly apply its brakes before it continues onward.

But the car immediately behind has to react, as it adds more pressure to maintain a safe gap.

Behind, we can see a chain reaction where every subsequent vehicle has to slow more than the one in front.

It only takes a few seconds, but the highway is then in a full traffic jam that has moved back through the lanes.

Think of it as a physical wave, moving right back down through the cars.

This is what leads to these phantom traffic jams, sometimes called shockwave traffic jams.

Why is it called a phantom jam?

The term phantom traffic jam comes from the fact that the slowdown occurs without an obstacle.

These jams are caused by human behaviour, and not because there is an accident or a broken-down car in front.

It is also unclear from the footage why the car in front actually slowed down in the first place.

What we can see is that the shockwave caused by the lead car filters right through the line for miles.

Yet if we look back to the front, the car that initiated the jam is long gone.

The braking force initiated by that vehicle can filter down the entire line of traffic for miles and miles.

In extreme cases, traffic can become stationary, leaving people stuck for a short period of time.

What is more remarkable is that in this instance, it happened in perfect weather.

How manufacturers are trying to stop these jams

Car manufacturers have recognized that these traffic jams are a problem and a source of frustration for road users.

Adaptive cruise control technology is being developed to help mitigate these traffic jams.

The systems can react more precisely than a human could and keep a consistent gap between vehicles in front and behind.

In theory, if nearly every car on the road used this new technology, then phantom traffic jams would be incredibly rare.

Being able to coordinate the acceleration and braking across multiple lanes could eliminate the traffic jams.

For drivers, the best tactic is to just keep an eye on the road and not react too harshly.

These jams are annoying, and nobody wants to be caught up in one.