I have just had the worst journey into my nearest office. 25 miles in 1hr 57 minutes (against a normal journey time of 25-30 mins) because some lorry driver has driven his truck off the road into the woods, and the police have closed two lanes. On the OPPOSITE carriageway!! The problems my way were solely down to idiots trying to cop an eyeful of the carnage!
I think it is time people slowing to look at accidents were prosecuted, or that the police invested in proper screening for central reservation barriers, or to be erected around the vehicles involved to prevent onlookers from seeing anything.
2 hours of traffic for an obstruction in the road / accident / safety related matter) is annoying but understandable.
2 hours of traffic purely so a handful of idiots can get an eyeful is inexcusable, and to make matters worse, I saw three near misses as people drove along staring intently to their right while the car in front braked! Rig up a CCTV camera and charge anyone seen turning their heads towards the accident scene with driving without due care and attention, and causing an obstruction!
Discuss.
Cheers
DP
(Sorry for ranting! ) :-)
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DP - feel free to rant - rubberneckers get my goat too. But is it not a normal human reaction to be nosey (I'm not excusing the behaviour!)? Even I have to fight hard against my instincts to look - but that's probably because I've been rear-ended in that situation so have been on the receiving end.
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DP - I guess you'll be at the head of the queue to complain when you see an accident scene with six guys standing around doing nothing and you ask 'why aren't you helping clear the road?' and they reply 'sorry guv we're only here to do the cameras and they're not here yet'
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I don't go along with the theory that hold-ups after a major accident are necessarily caused by 'rubberneckers'. Most drivers' natural reaction after seeing a major accident is to slow down, even if only by 5-10 mph and quite possibly only for a couple of minutes but any traffic manager will tell you that that sort of reduction in travel flow can have a serious 'domino' effect on following traffic.
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Surely you wouldn't know what had happened if you hadn't been looking yourself :-)
Seriously, though - as has been mentioned on this forum before - it's sadly just prurient public interest in the misfortune of others. Most reported news is concerned with disasters/accidents/murders etc. rather than anything good happening in the world.
It also worries me to see that many drivers can not hold a conversation with their passenger without turning to make direct eye contact. This is surely as bad as using a mobile phone - or indeed 'rubbernecking'.
Quite often, TV presenters are also shown talking 'to camera' rather than looking where they're going.....
Edited by OldSock on 24/01/2008 at 10:21
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I know what you mean DP, I was stuck in a spate of them last year within quite a short space of time, where the northbound M1 was stationary for no other reason than drivers staring at a problem on the southbound.
After the last time I was so cheesed off I emailed the Highways Agency to get their views on it. The response was that they consider it a serious problem, and that temporary screens are currently "under consideration"...
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I've been told that part of the problem is that people don't just slow down to look, they also want to take a picture with their mobile.
Why, in the name of reason, would anyone want to do that?
What do they have at home, albums of crash scenes?
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>>What do they have at home albums of crash scenes?
Yes - www.car-accidents.com/pages/car_accident_photo.html
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I recall many years ago being stuck for an hour or more stationery on the section of the M6 between Birmingham and the M1 due to a major accident ahead. When we finally started moving and came upon the accident scene it had happened near to a housing estate and many of the residents had come down a field bordering the motorway to watch the whole thing. Some had brought folding chairs and flasks of coffee. Just sitting there watching the carnage! It is a strange facet of human nature.
Fully sympathise with the obvious frustration of DP, rubbernecking is utterly stupid and they should be done for due care and attention if seen doing it.
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Thanks all.
I've been delayed by rubberneckers before, and it's usually irritating, but this was something else. Three stationary lanes from the Fleet Services all the way up to 2 miles before J2 of the M3. 11 miles of complete and utter chaos for no other reason than curiosity (at best).
The lorry was easy to spot in the final few hundred yards while it was almost ahead of you, and the traffic reports were explaining the detail of what happened. The only excuse you'd have for averting your eyes from the road is if you wanted to see gore.
What sort of ghoul would you need to be to set up seat in a field to watch something like this?
Cheers
DP
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"What sort of ghoul would you need to be to set up seat in a field to watch something like this?"
That was something which happened well over 20 years ago now and I can still remember it. Just could not believe it at the time. People have also been known to flock to the site of plane crashes causing problems for the emergency services. Guess it is the same morbid fascination.
I believe that studies have shown that there is a factor of traffic flow whereby if a one car brakes slightly the car behind has to brake slightly harder and the car behind that slightly harder again. If traffic is constant over several miles, there is a concertina effect so that vehicles a mile or so back from the car which braked first end up coming to a complete halt.
I noticed this driving down the A30 into Cornwall last autumn and it was caused by caravans and motor caravans overtaking one another. The overtaking vehicle was typically going about 0.25 MPH faster than the one it was overtaking causing chaos further back down the road due to this concertina effect.
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Have since found out the lorry driver was killed in the accident. Kind of puts my whinging about being late for work into perspective. Poor bloke.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/surrey/7206237.stm
But I stand by my comments about rubbernecking idiots.
Cheers
DP
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I don't think rubbernecking is the problem, I think that the Police go so OTT with flashing lights and creative parking that people get a sense of danger far greater than it really is and drop speed by a few mph while they observe all around. That 5mph will cause the concertina effect.
People do rubberneck at far more interesting things such as fireworks, but don't slow down and cause holdups.
I remember recently a car had crashed on a bridge into the barrier and they had about 6 Police cars and an ambulance, and they had so many flashing bright red and blue lights on a rainy night that you couldn't see a thing, it was literally blinding, and everyone was going about 5-10mph past, and a Policeman was making things even more distracting by flailing his arms around like a twerp. Maybe they should sometimes imagine how they are seen by others.
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DP, honestly and truthfully sit there and tell me you have never ever rubbernecked in any way at the scene of an accident, and I will allow your rant.
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Most drivers' natural reaction after seeing a major accident is to slow down,
Exactly! When I see people with yellow jacket and blue lights, I always assume that I might need to slow down - as police might close one lane and control traffic manually.
Rubber necking isn't the problem. It's a basic instinct of human nature.
Edited by movilogo on 25/01/2008 at 10:02
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DP honestly and truthfully sit there and tell me you have never ever rubbernecked in any way at the scene of an accident and I will allow your rant.
No, I genuinely haven't! The last thing I want to see is some poor person dead or dying in their car. I cannot imagine why anyone would!
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Not even a teeney weeney extended glance?
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there must be a market for it - out of curiosity i typed 'crashes' into the youtube search box - it came back with 53,600 clips....
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