  By means of a novel variational approach we study ergodic properties of a
model of a multi lane traffic flow, considered as a (deterministic) wandering
of interacting particles on an infinite lattice. For a class of initial
configurations of particles (roughly speaking satisfying the Law of Large
Numbers) the complete description of their limit (in time) behavior is
obtained, as well as estimates of the transient period. In this period the main
object of interest is the dynamics of `traffic jams', which is rigorously
defined and studied. It is shown that the dynamical system under consideration
is chaotic in a sense that its topological entropy (calculated explicitly) is
positive. Statistical quantities describing limit configurations are obtained
as well.
