Earthquake Model Confirms Traffic Jams Caused by Tiredness

A simple one-dimensional spring-block model elaborated for the idealized single-lane highway traffic reveals the causes for the emergence of traffic jams. Based on the stop-time statistics of one car in the row, an order parameter is defined and studied. By extensive computer simulations, the parameter space of the model is explored, analyzed and interpreted. Existence of a free a and congested flow phases is confirmed and the transition between them is analyzed.