Gawkers on the Roadways

I am not one of those who slows down to view accident scenes at all, because it is painful enough for those who are there clearing up the scene, attending to the injured or whatever without people making their life more difficult. It is none of my business and if it is someone that I know, then someone will soon let me know, unless of course I recognise the car or whatever as we drive past. Part of my feelings comes from the fact that I lost a sister in a car accident a very long time ago and also we lost a close friend the same way. So, the thought that people would have been gawking at them is not a pleasant one and also why I do not do so now. Some people will say that it is natural curiosity, but I think that we should all consider how we would feel if it was us or a loved one who was involved in the accident. That is the only criteria for "rubber necking" and if the answer is that you wouldn't like it, then do not do it yourself.

Most everyone does it, as people are like that. When I drive by one, I usually pray for the people immediately, see if they need assistance, if not keep going without stopping.

Another word is rubberneckers! LOL. This always happens when theres an accident, everyone wants to see what is happening, nosy and I think its partly human nature, you feel a sense of relief that it is someone else. But seeing carnage is something that I don't want to see, what if you saw something horrid, it would give you nightmares. It can also be very dangerous as people take their eyes off their driving to look, and the traffic slows down which can be very frustrating for others.

I think this tendency to "rubberneck", that is crane your neck to look over at the side of the road, is a natural human tendency. We are inherently interested in other people and we always want to know "what's going on." I think it would be hard to extricate that kind of interest from your life.

My answer was swallowed by the Internet gremlins, so I won't post the whole lot again. Sorry! All I wanted to say is that people who slow down to catch a glimpse of an accident on the motorway simply make me sick.

I try to avoid accidents as much as possible, taking side streets if available. Locally, I may slow down a bit for safety reasons or possibly even to see if I know the people involved, but I would not slow down to the point of obstructing traffic. On the expressway, or further away from home I don't slow down to look. As long as there is help available, I know that I am not needed, and slowing down trafic will cause more harm than good.

yeah curiosity sure slows down traffic and causes more problems /i think people are morbid and want to see it too /so the question hangs in the air "what happened"? and so the rubber neck society was spawned

NO Way I have to be a gawker but I try to avoid any accident if I see one before happen before I get to where it is at I ususally take the side streets

Actually, I am not a gawker, I'm one of the people that would stop and do something to help. Too many times to count, I've been on a scene or close by or lived on a busy street - so I do what I can with the training that I have. Once the professionals are on the scene, I let them do their thing - but I check around the area to make sure that there aren't other people that need help. Once that is done (or the professionals are there to take over), then I make sure that the area is handled - I've conducted traffic around accidents and have cleaned up an accident scene so that others don't get hurt or into accidents because of the debris.

I check if I can be of any help, if not then I don't stop to block traffic and it is very annoying to see people crowding the streets and blocking the way for ambulances also.