Straight Talk Law Report: The Curious Rubbernecking Phenomenon | Seattle Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Lawyer

We’ve all experienced it. In fact, many of us have done it. Of course, I’m talking about rubbernecking. When you are driving home from work and there are emergency vehicles surrounding a traffic accident scene, you become curious and take a peek. Whether the scene is a fender bender, a large-wreckage filled accident, or even simply just a broken down car or a flat tire, people want to check out what is going on. This problem is a cause of thousands of annual car accidents in the United States and is known as “rubbernecking.”

By definition, rubbernecking “describes the act of gawking at something of interest.” It happens all the time. You are driving somewhere, usually on the freeway, and you find yourself moving at a snail’s pace, inching down the road. You know that the reason for the delay is most likely some form of traffic accident up ahead. After spending an hour on the road for a trip that usually takes ten minutes, you’d think everyone would be anxious to get out of the mess and move along on their way as quickly as possible. But no, like the cars ahead of us have been doing, we all want to slow down, take our attention off of the road, and take a look for ourselves at what has been causing this frustrating delay. The real frustration will come when you get rear ended or you hit the car in front of you because you are not paying attention to the road.

The rubbernecking phenomenon is a major problem. As we know from a past Straight Talk Law report (Straight Talk Law: Top Driver Distractions to Avoid), there are many driver distractions that we must avoid. That article discussed things we can do to prevent dangerous situations. When someone else is involved in an accident miles up the road from you, there is nothing that you can do to prevent it. However, you can prevent further accidents from happening by refraining from rubbernecking. A 2005 study examined the types of distractions most likely to cause accidents and found rubbernecking was the greatest hazard, responsible for 16% of all distractions.

So what can we do about this problem? All humans are just curious by nature, right? In Great Britain, they seem to have come up with a solution that they think will help. They have developed a plan for national use of giant safety, vision-blocking screens to put around auto accidents. These screens can be put up around accident scenes in only minutes, and experts hope that the screens will reduce congestion by making sure that the drivers continue at their normal speed because there is nothing to see, even if someone looks.

Of course there are opponents of this method. Some wonder whether the extra staff needed to assemble and break down these screens, as well as the space that they take up on the side of the road, will make congestion even worse. Also, if drivers are that curious that they slow down just to check out someone with a flat tire, then how nosey and intrigued will they be by a 20 foot tall screen that stretches 150 feet down the freeway? If there was a clear solution to this troubling problem then I’m sure we would have found it by now.

We as humans won’t ever stop being curious. But we must realize that rubbernecking can be very dangerous, and even cause more serious of accidents than the one that caused the delay in the first place. Are large, vision-blocking screens like the ones being tested in Great Britain the answer? Maybe, maybe not. Whatever the case may be, Straight Talk Law once again asks you to please drive distraction-free at all times in order to keep the roads safe for yourself and others around you.

Always remember, if you do happen to be involved in an auto or motorcycle accident where personal injury or wrongful death occurs, consult with an attorney immediately. You may not need a lawyer’s services, but it’s important to be sure before you agree to anything with insurance companies. You should consult with an experienced attorney even before giving a recorded statement.

For more free “Straight Talk Law” information, please visit my website at www.straighttalklaw.com, where you can order free books on Washington auto accidents, auto insurance, and other valuable legal information, offered as a public service by myself and my law practice in Seattle, Washington.

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