i was sitting in traffic for literally like 5 min. an the temp went up into the red zone. as soon as traffic broke an i started moving again the temp went down again. is this something i should be concerned about?

 

Yes, first few things you should do is make sure the raditor is toped off and the overflow is at the high level. If thats good then try flushing the system. If all that doesn't work then take out the themostate and test it by putting it in some very hot water. See if the valve opens up.