Freeway TraI1ic According to a Scientific American article (May 1990), current freeways can sustain about 2400 vehicles per lane per hour in smooth traffic flow at 96 km/b (60 m/b). With more vehicles the traffic flow becomes "turbulent' (stop-and-go).
(a) If a vehicle is 4.6 m (15 ft) long on the average, what is the average spacing between vehicles at the above traffic density?
(b) Collision-avoidance automated control systems, which operate by bouncing radar or sonar signals off surrounding vehicles and then accelerate or brake the car when necessary, could greatly reduce the required spacing between vehicles. If the average spacing is 9.2 m (two car lengths), bow many vehicles per hour can a lane of traffic carry at 96 km/h?