Whatever it is called, I’m glad for it. It’s hard for me to get a good look at an accident while I’m doing seventy. And downright dangerous.
KYW, which dominates the drive time ratings, definitely calls it a gaper delay. Additionally, other stations continue to call it a gaper delay.
In Philly Metro area, it is referred to as a gaper delay.
I moved to the “northern and western suburbs” in 1990, and I’ve been hearing gaper delay ever since I got here. It was just one of those local things to get used to, like Schuylkill, Blue Route, Tastykakes, WaWa, 30th Street (Station), Amoroso’s rolls, etc.
paramedics, firemen, and “trafic” cops know better than to walk into traffic… especially since most rubbernecking occurs on the side of the road WITHOUT the accident…
I’ve lived in the PA/NJ area (I’m near Philly) my whole life and the term rubbernecking is common, but the traffic reports do often use the term “gaper delay”.
They call it rubbernecking on the radio travel reports here in the UK, which annoys me intensely, because I honestly don’t think very much of it is caused by curiosity. (I slow down because the person in front of me slowed down, they slowed down because of the person in front of them and so on, right back to the time when the accident occurred, when people slowed down because of genuine caution).
I’ve always called it Disaster Watching.
I’m going to defend philster here - I’m a dedicated listener of the KYW1060 news radio station here in the Philadelphia area, and the 1060 newscasters definitely refer to them as gaper delays.
severed limb slowdown.
After the accident has been cleared away, the slowdown persists for as much as an hour. This separate phenomenon has been used as an illustration of the phrase “standing wave.”
One time I heard one of the traffic reporters say “rubberneckers” and then quickly correct herself and say “gaper delay.” She then went on to explain to the radio host that they were instructed not to use the term “rubberneckers” and use “gaper delay” instead. I heard this some time last year on NJ101.5
It stood out to me because it’s always rare that on-air talent discusses the rules of the game, and I thought it was a really dumb rule. What could possibly be the problem with “rubberneckers”?
Here in Southern California I usually hear “spectator slowing” but occasionally traffic reporters will refer to “looky-lous”.
Rubberneck or looky-lou (Northern California)
Wreck-snuffling was used for a while within my family.
I think the standing wave effect has a lot to do with it.
Curiosity delays here in Arizona.