Isso soa muito parecido com o par de páginas iniciais do "Gridlock" de Ben Elton - mais uma comédia / sátira do que uma ficção científica. A título de introdução, supõe uma raça de extraterrestres hiper-inteligentes que têm observado a humanidade e descobriram todos os seus problemas mais intratáveis (o conflito do Oriente Médio, as regras do críquete) com facilidade, mas se veem completamente perplexos com o tráfego.
Resumo Wikipedia :
The novel depicts a near-future London in which traffic congestion has reached almost critical levels, such that accidents in a few key places could bring the entire city's traffic network to a halt. The government is aware of the problem and plans a major new road-building program to relieve the pressure. The alternative, heavy investment in public mass transport systems such as railways, is ignored because it clashes with the government's ideology. The author argues that this is a highly misguided policy since, in his view, more roads have historically tended to simply generate more traffic and so create an even bigger problem in the long run.
The climax of the book sees shadowy, possibly government-backed forces deliberately instigate the necessary simultaneous accidents which do indeed bring the whole of London to a standstill for several days. The resulting chaos is used as an excuse to press ahead with the road-building scheme.
Veja também essa captura do Google Livros .