Traffic waves, also called stop waves, ghost jams, traffic snakes or traffic shocks, are traveling disturbances in the distribution of cars on a highway. Traffic waves travel backwards relative to the cars themselves. Relative to a fixed spot on the road the wave can move with, or against the traffic, or even be stationary (when the wave moves away from the traffic with exactly the same speed as the traffic). Traffic waves are a type of traffic jam. A deeper understanding of traffic waves is a goal of the physical study of traffic flow, in which traffic itself can often be seen using techniques similar to those used in fluid dynamics. It is related to the accordion effect.