Social Distancing in Traffic
Traffic
In The Netherlands 1,5 meter distancing for cyclists means more attention at traffic lights and pedestrian crossings. Keeping enough distance from other cyclists. But I made a special observation. I have the strong impression that passenger cars also maintain more distance…. Of course they have always done that. If only for preventing rear end collision. But it is very noticeable now that it is more of the same. That would be a interesting phenomenon. The virus of course does not transmit between cars themselves as such. Psychology?
Scientific
This is an observation (n=1) that you ask yourself whether it is correct. It is certainly not science. But that could be the case by, for example, taking data from Rijkswaterstaat. Data from measuring loops in the road surface. It is also not certain that this applies to traffic jams, for example. You could ask the car drivers whether this is their ‘new normal’. It could theoretically also be related to the fact that car traffic still is diminished. Maybe just measure this with a drone in some urban areas? Or Trafic dynamics Perhaps you can do something with data from car insurers with regard to collisions. In short, it is exciting how these kinds of thoughts go through your head in times of COVID19.