Most of us get frustrated whenever drivers slow down to gawk at an accident or someone getting a ticket (or a pretty lady holding up a sign for something). There have been explanations about why people do it:
I used to love watching horror films when I was younger. I'd never flinch at any gory scenes, but eventually, the slasher-type gore-fests became rather mundane and monotonous, so now I prefer more suspense-based horror movies. When Faces Of Death came out, however, I was appalled and insulted. I refused to watch it. It was one thing to watch dramatized make-believe stuff, but someone real who was loved and had parents and people grieving was having their final moments exploited as entertainment fodder, and I wasn't about to let someone profit from me with something like that. Likewise, something about rubbernecking somehow to me is an affront to the unfortunate people's dignity.
Documentaries are a different matter. I will always watch those, about things like the Holocaust, unethical and animal abuses. It is very painful for me to watch those, but it is important to know what really happens so that people will always remember what can happen and do what they can to prevent it from happening again.
My main concern with the type of voyeurism involved in an activity such as rubbernecking is the potential for apathy. Some things you shouldn't get used to, or you might not be affected enough to give a damn and do something about when it really matters. Like when one poor man was getting beaten half to death and begged for help and only 1 man came to his aid in a crowd of onlookers. I don't want us to become barbarians again, a throw-back to when "civilized" Rome watched gladiators kill each other for sport and watched Christians get eaten alive by hungry lions.
Besides, your risk of getting into an accident greatly increases when you are distracted while driving, that includes rubbernecking:
"Car accident statistics indicate 98 percent of reported accidents involve a single distracted driver. Rubbernecking was the highest percentage of single distractions, followed by driver fatigue, looking at scenery or landmarks, passenger or child distractions, adjusting the radio or other music form, and cell phone use."
Someone actually invented a product that is supposed to help prevent it:
In any event, show some class, stop ogling, and keep your eyes toward the direction in which you are traveling, OK?? Here, you can even pledge not to rubberneck, at this website:
Distracted driving -
especially for teens and
young adults - is a major
cause of vehicle
accidents. Mobile
phone use while driving
is at the top of the list
of distractions, and
while I'd love for there
to be a way to disable
phones while the ca...
Join the world at
www.charterforcompassion.
org to write the Charter
for Compassion. The
Charter brings together
the voices of people from
all religions. It seeks
to remind the world that
while all faiths are not
the same, they all share
the core prin...
Nothing wakes you up to
the hazards of driving
like seeing videos of
actual driving
mistakes:http://www.drive
cam.com/drivecam-videos.a
sp(You will need to view
it on Internet Explorer
and plug in ActiveX if
you don't have
it)Some of the clips come
...
Dear Healthcare-NOW!
Supporter:
Dozens of people held a
sit-in at Senator
Lieberman's Capitol Hill
office this morning
to demand that Senator
Lieberman pledge to stop
taking health insurance
company campaign
contributions and free up
funds so...
For the World March for
Peace and Nonviolence,
the largest human peace
sign in the world was
performed in Lucena,
Philippines, by 12,000
students of the QUEZON
NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL on
October 7th, 2009.
Video:http://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=TOhRQa...
In a matter of hours, the
House of Representatives
will vote on the issue of
abortion in the new
health system.
Congress is set to vote
on abortion in the new
health system TODAY.
We can’t let the
anti-choice movement win,
because wom...
Blog: How Soda Effects Your Body by Past Member .
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— Thanks Mark for the
article and thanks to Dr.
Mao and his team for the
research!
Soda, pop, cola, soft
drink â
whatever you call it, it
is one of the worst
beverages that you could
be drinking for your
health. As the debate for
whet... more
Blog: Mr. Chilcott: enough is enough for a reasonable manmore is superfluous by Horatio G.
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—
In reference to Reader's
view: Tell Congress,
'Enough' :
Two antithetical
ideological views are
making the
nationalization argument
very contentious. One is
the ideology of free
market capitalism, a
Randian philosophy of
objectivism and indi... more
Blog: The Enemy Of Wildlife by Patrick W.
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—
We Have Met The Enemyand
it is usThis is a long
article, but important to
wildlife
conservationistshttp://ww
w.iucn.org/about/work/pro
grammes/species/red_list/
?4143/Extinction-crisis-c
ontinues-apaceExcerpt:The
latest update of the IUCN
Red List of Thr... more
Blog: Trucker dies as big-rig plummets off SF bridge by HM S.
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— SAN FRANCISCO -- An
accident-plagued stretch
of the San
Francisco-Oakland Bay
Bridge saw its first
fatality Monday when the
driver of a speeding big
rig lost control and the
truck plummeted 200 feet
from the span,
authorities said. more
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