We examine the network performance of algorithms for self-organized traffic management. In particular, we focus on wireless network-ing between cars. One of many technologies that make road traffic safer and more efficient is the Virtual Traffic Light(VTL) system,which is able to coordinate the traffic flow at intersections without the need for physical lights. VTL takes a leading vehicle at an inter-section and uses it to control the traffic lights. We developed algorithms for leader election and traffic light computation in realistic ve-hicular networking scenarios. Our key contribution is the extension of this algorithm to support arbitrary intersection layouts. We in-vestigated the proposal in synthetic and realistic scenarios. The results show that, overall, VTLs use network resources efficiently andpositively influences driving experience. It performs better than stationary traffic lights for a low to medium network load. We alsoidentify potential optimizations to deal with high network load and to improve fairness. We examine the network performance of algorithms for self-organized traffic management. In particular, we focus on wireless network-ing between cars. One of many technologies that make road traffic safer and more efficient is the Virtual Traffic Light (VTL) system, which is able to coordinate the traffic flow at intersections without the need for physical lights. VTL takes a leading vehicle at an inter-section and uses it to control the traffic lights. We developed algorithms for leader election and traffic light computation in realistic ve-hicular We in-vestigated the proposal in synthetic and realistic scenarios. The results show that, overall, VTLs use network resources efficiently andpositively influenced driving experience. It performs better than stationary traffic lights for a low to medium network load. We alsoidentify potential optimizations to deal with high network load and to improve fairness.