Sep 17
Rubbernecking is a term that refers to people gawking at something as they pass by (usually referring to a car accident). It actually was coined over a century ago to refer to tourists in American cities.
It is one of my major pet peeves while driving. The San Francisco Bay Area is notorious for its traffic, one of the worst in the US. You know why there’s traffic? Half the time because it’s a car that’s pulled over on the road and people are slowing down to see if there’s a major accident. Even if they’re annoyed by being stuck in traffic, people still tend to contribute to the problem by slowing down themselves when they get to the site (and yet they have absolutely no desire to pull over and help).
So frustrating.
I make it a point to not slow down to gawk at accidents or cars pulled over the side of the road. I’ve vowed to not contribute to traffic in that manner.
So if you ever see me zip on by, averting my gaze as you stand there on the side of the road, you can at least rest assured that I’m doing my part to avoid traffic jams.
I do the exact same thing. Making a point that is. Studies into traffic management have shown that even soft braking can cause tailbacks miles long from the ripples you cause.
Unfortunately for us in the UK, our roads are a little more…condensed, so even our biggest roads grind to a halt when people start rubbernecking.
On a side note, that Cocaffe has a very scary face. Or maybe it’s a Giracoco?
Tell me about it. have you actually looked at a giraffe? They’re sorta freaky. I mean what are those little knobs on their heads for? Their heads look like a combination of cow and aardvark…
I found Tony!