Unintended Consequences

Great Moments in Unintended Consequences: Printed Guns, Scratch and Sniff, Jakarta Traffic (Vol. 18)

Good intentions, bad results.

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Great moments in unintended consequences—when something that sounds like a great idea goes horribly wrong. Watch the whole series.

Part One: Buybackfire

The Year: 2022

The Problem: too many guns on the streets of Utica, New York.

The Solution: an anonymous gun buyback program, with a premium paid for unregistered "ghost guns" that don't have serial numbers.

Sounds like a great idea, with the best of intentions. What could possibly go wrong?

It turns out, you can print money! A West Virginia man used his 3D printer to create more than 100 firearms and parts—then drove six hours to hand them over.

Because his parts were all unregistered, each one was eligible for an additional $100 bonus, and he drove away $21,000 richer, making him fully loaded.

Part Two: Route Cause

The Year: 2003

The Problem: Jakarta has some of the worst traffic in the world.

The Solution: the 3-in-1 rule, which requires private vehicles to carry three people in order to drive on the main roads.

Sounds like a great idea, with the best of intentions. What could possibly go wrong?

It turns out, people like driving! And money! Professional passengers—known as "car jockeys"—became ubiquitous on the roads. Children dropped out of school to earn a living hopping in and out of cars all day. Parents could even get their babies on the payroll! It's like day care, with just a bit more smog!

After the law was scrapped in 2016, traffic got worse. But at least the jockeys were driven out.

Part Three: Odor Denoter  

The Year: 1987

The Problem: Natural gas leaks are dangerous!

The Solution: Educate Baltimore Gas & Electric customers to identify the smell of gas by enclosing helpful scratch-and-sniff stickers with energy bills.

Smells like rotten eggs, with the best of intentions. What could possibly go wrong?

Turns out, those paper envelopes aren't hermetically sealed. 300,000 simulated gas leaks were delivered all across Baltimore, leading hundreds of panicked residents to call the fire department before even opening their mail.

Ultimately, the company apologized and the program…was scratched. 

Do you know a great moment in unintended consequences? Email us at comedy@reason.com.