So here's what I was thinking...

I got caught in not one, but two, traffic jams on the way to work. These traffic jams were caused by accidents. They also delayed my arrival at work by a half hour. On a 90 degree day. Thank goodness for air condtioning. Anyhow, what I was thinking is that if stupidity can be proved enough to write a ticket to one or more of the involved parties in an accident, those people ticketed should be open to lawsuits filed by all those folks delayed by proven stupidity. There would be a cap of $500 per claim and any appeals filed on behalf of the offenders would be settled against the class. Only one appeal would be necessary. And financial difficulty would not be a defense. You want to drive three feet off the bumper of the car in front of you in 60 mph traffic, you pay the consequences for any accident you are found at fault for. Standard fines are apparently not enough of a deterrent to those who insist on driving recklessly. You multiply $500 by the hundreds or thousands of commuters you delayed....that might be more of a deterrent.

I know it's not very well thought through but there it is anyhow.