Abstract: Traffic congestion is one of the major irritants of modern American life. This article provides an overview of the complex causes and prevention of traffic jams. Although the behavior of heavy traffic has stymied highway engineers, city planners and social scientists for many years, new technologies may hold the key to helping predict and avoid traffic situations. A police aggressive-driving patrol, traffic jam avoidance software for drivers, and a new simulation program developed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory that will soon be available to city planners are examined. Atlanta, Georgia's traffic control center and traffic congestion problems are highlighted.