Traffic Jams, Externalities… What’s the Solution

I’m very lucky. I don’t have to drive very much or often. Most of my work is done from home.

But, like anyone else in LA or any other big city for that matter, I sometimes get caught on a traffic jam on the freeway. Sometimes, these traffic jams occur when there isn’t much traffic on the road. In such instances, the jam is usually caused by an accident. Let me rephrase – the jam is caused by rubberneckers. Talk about a massive negative externality. Tens of thousands of hours wasted because a few feel a need to stare. I recall once being behind one guy who got came to a complete halt and poked his head out of the car to stare at an accident that had been cleared hours earlier. It wasn’t important enough to him to pull over to the side of the road, but it was important enough to delay everyone else. I honked the %&*#-head and he turned around and flipped me off and went back to staring.

So… what is the solution to the rubberneck problem?