Rubbernecking

Many of these accidents could probably be easily avoided by individuals not excessively speeding, texting on the road, driving drunk, etc. I'm leery of saying that screens are the solution because screens may be burdensome or simply draw further attention to the accident or incident. Whereas screens may be helpful, they may cause other problems, e.

Not to mention that after the first few cars slow down, whether from caution or for rubbernecking, every car behind perforce slows down to avoid rear-ending the car in front. But our local police forces have found a solution to the slowed traffic problem.

Rubbernecking

I live off a section of highway that's the only paved route between A and B that doesn't involve a 40 mile detour. So whenever there's a serious accident on this stretch, instead of dragging the cars off quickly, the police close the highway for several hours. First of all, just about anything out of the ordinary sitting by the side of the road, from simple flat tires to someone going to the bathroom, can cause a significant delay on a road that is already near capacity.

Second, even with screens people are going to try to look at what's going on with all the emergency vehicles and whatnot. So given these two things you might as well have people look. The utility gained from the accident is payment for the delay in their travel. With screens you'll have the delay without the payoff.

Why can't they make brake lights that are pressure sensitive? I feel so much of the "slinky effect" is due to the need to assume that a brake light means the driver in front of you is slamming on the brake need to assume worst-case. If the brake lights' brightness was pressure or acceleration? BTW is it just be or if crashed vehicles are by the side of the road long enough that screens are able to be erected, perhaps the problem lies in the accident response and not gaper delay.

phrases, sayings, idioms and expressions at

Clearing the highway of debris to allow resumption of normal operation should be the top priority after helping the injured and putting out fires. All too often the road is closed for hours while way too many emergency services with far too little to do putter about drinking coffee. Yeah I'm sure there is plenty that needs to be investigated, but I think we should make a public policy decision that restoring normal movement of vehicles is more important than determining who or what was at fault.

The roads are for the living, get those dead bodies out of the way please. A jam is created. Does the author think that the jam is magically dissipated? The jam persists because you have fast moving traffic coming into the back of slow moving traffic. Once a person reaches the point where they can see the accident, they are typically accelerating OUT of the jam. I don't think screens can make a dent in the jam.

Only time, and a lower volume will do that. Eric, I know you are claiming this as your idea, but I'm going to claim dibs on it because I also thought of it a few years back! There are, in a sense, two sorts of accidents: Those that are minor and those that are major.

• Rubbernecking.
• Zombie Fear (Morgan the Monster Slayer Series Book 1).
• Peacock Tattoos: Designs & Ideas.
• The Hammerheads of Treasure Island (A Save Our Seas Adventure Book Book 4).
• Culto Métrico (Portuguese Edition)!
• Panóplias (Portuguese Edition).
• Sign up, it's free!!

When a minor accident occurs, some people don't know that they are to move their fender-bender OFF the road. They sit there, waiting for the police to come, thus holding up traffic. But even if they move off the road, you are going to have rubberneckers. But in a major accident, something else happens I think.

When the accident occurs, it doesn't happen with an ambulance or firetruck standing by usually.

Navigation menu

So the first responders are other people in the traffic flow. They quickly pull their cars over and run to help. This slows traffic because now their are several cars alongside the road. Further, if people are having to cross traffic lanes to help, it slows traffic, too.

Rubbernecking | Seth's Blog

Here's the bad part. That is, the accident could literally be invisible, but if you have firetruck, ambulance, and police car, lights flashing, sitting beside the road, traffic WILL slow to a crawl. However, there is some good news from this phenomenon. When the police want to slow traffic assuming that is what they want to do, instead of just give out tickets , all they have to do is park on the side of the road and We are almost programmed to slow down.

Whether to see an accident or because we think we may be entering a speed trap, etc. These screens look pretty inefficient. On some highways they use what look like vertical blinds to block the view from one side of a highway to another. I got the impression the danger is headlight glare on highways located in mountain areas, as this is the only place I have really seen them.

They are really just blades standing on end, positioned to block the view from one angle, but if you were going in the opposite direction and I hope you are not in a highway , you would be able to see through them. The blades could pack easily, be expanded to expand fairly easily and they wouldn't block the wind. Wouldn't that make more sense? Before reading this post I didn't think anyone else even thought of this idea but me - it's been in my head for a long time. Glad to see so many others have crazy thoughts like I do!

I have also thought that police cars in the median are accident causes as well. You know when you are following behind the guy doing 10 mph over the limit that then decides 5 under is safer in front of a trooper. Radical changes in speed and direction cause reduced control. I feel like people will just try to see through the screens and it will be the same problem, only with more randomized braking as people reach various holes in the fencing Ian, this isn't actually that bad of an idea While driving down a straight lane at 55 miles per hour, participants in each condition encountered a severe traffic crash on the side of the road including police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks, as well as smoke and fire.

rubberneck

As might be expected, drivers spent more time looking at the crash scene when it was visible. When the view of the accident was fully blocked by a barrier, drivers only spent an average of about 4 seconds eyeing the side of the road. Interestingly, only partially obscuring the accident did little to prevent signs of distraction. One possible explanation, the research team suggests, is that the mere indication of a crash is enough to cause participants to look away from the road to assess the side of the road. Incident screens are already being used in roads around the world.

Pilot studies conducted by the Highways Agency in the UK found that the incident screens were an effective way to prevent driver distraction and keep traffic moving after an accident. Temporary Barriers to Reduce the Effects of Rubbernecking.

Your email address will not be published. In the interest of transparency, we do not accept anonymous comments.