When congestion or rubbernecking occurs on major highways, vehicles stand still and idle their engines. As the congestion builds up, the wait time increases. The congestion wastes fuel and aggravates the driver's nerves.
Often it is the drivers own curiosity that helps to fuel the delay which is known as rubbernecking. As the name implies, rubbernecking refers to the action of passing drivers or motorists who divert their attention from the roadway in front of them to the unusual situation that is existing within eyeshot of the driver. This unusual situation can be a car accident, a hit pedestrian, road construction, road repair, a patrol car that pulled over a motorist, or some other disturbance. Because the driver is drawn to the disturbance, the driver must slow the car down to get a better view, and this leads to what is known as “rubbernecking.”
It is a desire of this invention to address several issues regarding rubbernecking; 1) find a way to decrease the wait time, 2) decrease waste of fuel, and 3) attempt to remove the need to rubberneck.
Here are some fuel expenditure conditions in the US, as illustrated in
A desirable feature of this invention would be to deter the need to perform rubbernecking. In addition, another feature of this invention would be to control the traffic flow while in a congested state to decrease the congestion.
This invention relates to the idea of replacing the view of the accident with a second view that lacks detail. Ideally, this second view should be applied uniformly across a region of the country to substitute the disturbance with this commonly known second view. It is important to point out that this invention would decrease rubbernecking gradually since the need for rubbernecking should secede after a period of time because the reward of rubbernecking will not provide a visual of the unusual situation, instead the second view will be shown. Once this second view is accepted by all drivers in this region of the country, the drivers will tend to disregard the need to rubberneck.
The second view is a quickly erected shield that blocks the view of the disturbance from the passing drivers. This shield could have standardized appearance, but the net result will be that the driver would not be able to see disturbance. Features such as color, width and height of the shield or shields can be resolved to provide for better uniformity of the second view. As the uniformity improves, there will be a lesser chance for the driver or motorist to slow down.
One way of erecting the second view is by filling balloons with helium which in turn lifts shields to block the disturbance. The bottom end of the shield will have a counter weight to hold the base of the shield against the ground. In case of stiff cross winds, the ends of the shield can further be help in place by additional wires quickly connected to local support.
Another aspect of this invention is to control the flow of congested traffic in real time. Wirelessly controlled mobile flat units can be placed on the shoulder of the road and then moved onto the roadway remotely controlled by a master unit. As these flat units are moved onto the roadway, the congested traffic can run over these flat units without damaging them. Once these units are in position, a signal is given to raise or extend a reflective, illuminated post which also has an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) display. This spacing of these marked posts defines and establishes a new dynamically adjusted roadway. As the traffic follows these roadways, the congestion becomes reduced until it is eliminated.
After the congestion is eliminated, the marked posts are slowly moved by the processor unit until the new sets of lanes superimpose the original set of lanes in the roadway. Then, the posts are lower or retracted and the units moved to the shoulder of the road for future reuse.
Another aspect of this invention is that the marked posts are positioned with the guidance of a master processor that has the details of the roadway in memory. The memory can be in the master processor or located on a web server. If the master processor knows; 1) which roadway is blocked, 2) the location of the accident, and 3) the positioning of the mobile flat units, the master processor issues instructions to the mobile units to optimize and reduce the flow of the congested traffic.
Once the shields are in place and the reward of rubbernecking is reduced, the traffic will become less affected by the rubbernecking event and the waste of fuel waiting in long traffic lines can be decreased. In addition, because of the active control of congested traffic, the ability to control and reduce congestion offers another approach to improving fuel usage in the US.
Please note that the drawings shown in this specification may not be drawn to scale and the relative dimensions of various elements in the diagrams are depicted schematically and not to scale.
a shows the inventive technique being applied to
b shows the inventive technique being applied to
a depicts the front view of a mobile flat unit that has the marked post extended.
b shows the side view of a mobile flat unit that has the marked post extended.
b illustrates the top view of a mobile flat unit that has the marked post extended.
c depicts the top view of a mobile flat unit that has the marked post retracted.
a illustrates the front view of a portion of a mobile flat unit illustrating the traction belt used to move the unit onto the roadway.
b shows the side view of a portion of a mobile flat unit and some of the electronics inside the unit.
a illustrates the top view of the southbound lanes of
b shows the top view of the southbound lanes of
c illustrates the top view of the southbound lanes of
The various lanes are separated by barriers, markings, depressions, or lines for demarcation purposes. For instance, the lanes that are traveling South 1-3, 1-5, 1-9 and 1-14 are bordered by markings 1-2, 1-4, 1-8, 1-13, and 1-15, respectively and the lanes traveling North 1-16, 1-18, 1-23 and 1-28 are bordered by markings 1-15, 1-17, 1-22, 1-27 and 1-29, respectively. The markings 1-4, 1-13, 1-17 and 1-27 may have rumble strips formed in them to make the characteristic sound once the tires rolls over them. The barrier 1-15 separates the North from the South lanes as mentioned earlier. The dotted lines 1-8 and 1-22 separate the two active portions in each direction into two lanes.
The northbound traffic has moving vehicles 1-19 and 1-20 traveling at velocity 1-21. While vehicles 1-25 and 1-26 are traveling at velocity 1-24. In the southbound lanes vehicle 1-6 is traveling at velocity 1-7 while vehicles 1-10 and 1-11 are traveling at velocity 1-12. Although it is not necessary for both vehicles in the same lane to travel at the same velocity at all times. Also note that a vehicle can be any moving vehicle such as a motorcycle, car, truck, van, scooter, tractor trailer, 18 wheeler or tandem rig.
The shoulders 1-3, 1-14, 1-16 and 1-28 are used to decelerate any vehicles traveling on the active portion of the highway for emergency care (typically when the car starts to fail in operation, a fender bender or minor collision) or unavoidable stoppage (police request) or for any other need to stop a vehicle.
Depending on the time of day, (for example, weekdays 8 AM or 5 PM) the rubbernecking traffic can build up quickly.
a illustrates the inventive technique of using shields to block the details of the accident 2-3 which is behind the shields 4-4a through 4-4n. The shields are connected to the balloons by wires 4-3a through 4-3n and are lifted by helium balloons 4-3a through 4-3n. Another possibility is for a shield that can be constructed so that it can hold helium eliminating the need for the wires and balloons. Ideally, the traffic would be flowing in the northern directions at velocities 4-6 and 4-7 and in the southern directions at velocities 4-4 and 4-5. These velocities should be larger than the velocities given for
A bird's eye view of
b illustrates a second inventive technique of using shields to block the details of the accident 2-3. The shields 4-4a through 4-4n are now placed juxtaposed to the barrier 1-15. The shields are connected to the balloons by wires 4-3a through 4-3n and are lifted by helium balloons 4-3a through 4-3n.
Another possibility instead of balloons is to use light rigid shield extensions that fit over the barrier 1-15 to block the view of the northbound traffic. Although this solves half of the rubbernecking problem (only the northbound lane), the ability to position these shields could be performed very quickly.
A bird's eye view 8-1 of
a shows an insert 11-2 presenting the front view of an extended mobile flat unit 10-2. The extended post 11-4 can have LED's (Light Emitting Diodes) 11-5 and reflective paint (not shown). The top of the post 11-3 has a display panel. The display panel can be an illuminated LCD or LED panel that can be used to display instructions 11-8. Some examples of instructions can include; 10 MPH, STOP, 5 MPH or any other instruction that can be directed to the motorists in the vehicles. The section 11-7 will be described later with regards to height, contents, durability, mobility, etc.
b depicts an insert 11-10 presenting the side view 11-9 of an extended mobile flat unit 10-2. The extended post 11-4 is viewed from the side.
c illustrates an insert 11-12 presenting the top view 11-11 of an extended mobile flat unit 10-2. The extended post 11-13 is viewed from the top and a cavity 11-14 is embedded in the unit 10-2.
d shows an insert 11-16 presenting the top view 11-15 of a retracted mobile flat unit 10-2. Note that the post 11-17 is rotated into the recessed cavity 11-14 and prevents tires from damaging the retracted post when the tire rolls over the mobile unit 10-2. A dotted rectangle 11-18 illustrates one of the rubber tracks that are located beneath the unit 10-2.
a depicts the front view 12-1 of a mobile flat unit 10-2. The rubber track 11-18 mentioned earlier is wrapped around two cylindrical shafts 12-3 and 12-4. As the shaft 12-4 rotates counterclockwise, the unit moves in the direction 12-7. The arrow 12-5 presents the side view shown next.
b illustrates the side view 12-5 of a mobile flat unit 10-2. The rubber track 11-18 mentioned earlier as well as additional rubber tracks 12-2 and 12-8 are presented. The rubber tracks are shown in contact with the road 12-9. A local processor 12-11 receives/transmits instructions from/to the wireless block 12-12. The motor 12-10 controls the movement of the cylindrical shafts (not shown) which move the rubber tracks and thereby move the unit in/out of the page. Although not shown, the unit also contains all the components required to form the system. For example, batteries, memory, clocks that may be required but not shown.
a depicts a top view 14-1 of a master processor 14-2 controlling the mobile flat units 10-2a to 10-2n and 10-3a to 10-3n. The flat units can be positioned in the shoulder of the roadway. The control to move the units is performed wirelessly by the communications paths 14-3, 14-4, 4-5 and 14-6. As an alternative, the mobile flat units can communicate using wired connections (not shown). This control moves the units in the direction of the arrows 14-7 into lane 1-5. To simplify the drawings, the traffic of vehicles traveling over these lanes is not shown, but it is understood that the mobile flat units can be rolled over by the tires of vehicles without damaging the units. The master processor 14-2 contains all the components necessary to control the flat units, such as, wireless systems, computation systems, memory storage systems, and contact with a roadway database that described the features of the roadway. In the remaining figures of moving the mobile flat units into place, the master controller is not shown.
b depicts a top view 14-8 of the mobile flat units 10-2a to 10-2n and 10-3a to 10-3n moved closer into final position. The units are still moving in the direction 14-9 and are now located in the two lanes of the southbound lanes 1-9 and 1-5.
c shows a top view 14-10 of the mobile flat units 10-2a to 10-2n and 10-3a to 10-3n moved when they are in final position. At this point, a command from the master controller is given to extend the post as illustrated in the inset 14-11. The vehicles 14-13 now use the new lanes defined by the extended posts.
Once the traffic congestion is controlled, the mobile units are slowly moved under the master control in the opposite direction with active traffic flowing in the lanes. The movement occurs until the mobile flat units 10-2a to 10-2n are overlaying the center line 1-8 and the mobile flat units 10-3a to 10-3n are overlaying the edge line 1-4. At this point, the posts are retracted and the vehicles follow the lines in painted lines in the road. Meanwhile, the mobile flat units are moved into the shoulder 1-3 for pickup and removal.
Finally, it is understood that the above description are only illustrative of the principles of the current invention. It is understood that the various embodiments of the invention, although different, are not mutually exclusive. In accordance with these principles, those skilled in the art may devise numerous modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, in place of helium balloons used to lift the shield, hydrogen can be used. Rigid rods connected to a base can be used to hold the shield in place. The mobile base units can also communicate directly with the passing vehicles to provide instructions directly to the vehicle processor located in the vehicle. Both, the rubbernecking and congestion control can be used together or individually.