This web game shows why self-driving cars are the future

Traffic jams. The bane of the weekend getaway, scourge of the summer holiday and - well, just have a look at the roads around Kent at the moment.

While Operation Stack is a rather obvious cause of Kent's current difficulties, many gridlocks can appear with infuriating mystery: you're trapped in a queue of crawling cars when the road begins to clear - not a hint of a crash to ogle at, nor escaped cow to provide comic relief.

A neat illustration as to why jams can occur - and why self-driving cars may be the best solution - comes in the form of Error-Prone: a free web game for up to 26 players.

The game aims to crowd your office around a single computer keyboard, with each player taking one letter associated with a tiny car on the screen: "When you press a letter on the keyboard you assume control, and almost immediately you will see the effects your erratic human driving causing grid lock or even accidents," explains the game's Swedish creators, Stugan and Trafikverket. "The more people play... the more chaos ensues."

"How can we solve traffic jams, emissions and accidents? Self-driving cars!" 

Or at least, that's the answer that the Swedish Transport Association offers up.

Head here to play the game, and see if you'd rather sign your fate over to a self-driving vehicle.