# What is "rubbernecking"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 20, 2005, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-rubbernecking/313257 "2005-07-20T05:38:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-rubbernecking/313257/21 "2005-07-20T14:03:08Z")
From **Jurph** ’s link, how we have “rubbernecker slowdowns” [without](http://amasci.com/amateur/traffic/trafexp.html) rubberneckers. The Point: You don’t unclog them by NOT rubbernecking. You unclog them with the “space leaving” before you get to them. Again, excellent site. . .a guy fleshing out many of my own discombobulations. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-rubbernecking/313257/22 "2005-07-20T14:06:52Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > However. . .this doesn’t work at all in a “big stop”, the kind caused by an accident, where no amount of slowing can get you to approach the car in front of you without stopping yourself, and you have no effect on flow. And increasing your following distance here puts you in the position that **mangetout** mentioned. > […] > Traffic can slow so severely that the “jam wave” doesn’t just move backwards, but just extends backwards. This is much more serious when there’s a lane closure. But even then, your following distance “eats” a piece of the jam, or at the very least, stops it from propagating further back for a short period of time. The most severe well-established jams cannot be broken up by just one person using these methods, but the idea is to do as much as you can. If you know that one spot is bad every day, you should find a delivery truck or other professional driver (look at that following distance!) afew miles early, and sit next to them with a good following distance. You establish a “moving roadblock” – all of the cars behind you pay an incremental or marginal price in current speed, but reap the benefits when they arrive at the standing wave and there’s less traffic there. It sounds like your particular situation is like the I-495 merge with I-270, where a sharp curve, speed decrease, and limited visibility combine with high volume to create a “jam generator” – this is crappy highway design, and you’re right, there’s not much you can do about that sort of persistent effect. But if you can get traffic moving at 45 or 50mph through the turn, you’ll have made a difference until some idiot decides that they need to drop from 50 to 30 _right now_ in the middle of the turn. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-rubbernecking/313257/23 "2005-07-20T14:20:29Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Sort of off-topic, but I feel I have to say it anyway; nearly all described cases of ‘rubbernecking’ are in fact nothing of the sort; on a busy, multi-lane road, people slow down _ **because the driver in front of them had slowed down** _ - who slowed down because _ **the driver in front of them had slowed down** _ - and so on - without changing lanes or overtaking, you can only really drive slower than, or the same speed as, the driver in front. > Maybe a handful of drivers do the ‘rubbernecking’ thing at the start, right when the accident occurs (or maybe they just slow down out of genuine caution); the drivers behind are all condemned to follow suit. > > Sorry for the hijack, it’s a pet peeve of mine; I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard a radio travel reporter say “stop rubbernecking folks, just keep moving”, completely ignorant of the fact that _we’d love to keep moving_, but there’s this static wave of slow traffic in front of us. I can’t help but look…especially if the guy in front of me forces me to slow down. The first guy really HAS to slow down if he wants to safely assess his ability to pass the accident. Then it starts… ---
**Author:** ![JohnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/848f3c/32.png) [@JohnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnM)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-rubbernecking/313257/24 "2005-07-20T14:48:05Z")
FYI, in the Philly area rubbernecking is referred to as a “gaper delay.” As to the optimal strategy for clearing a traffic jam (regardless of cause), shouldn’t this be a rather straightforward problem in queuing theory? Any transit professionals on the board who can speak to this? ---
**Author:** ![dlack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@dlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dlack)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-rubbernecking/313257/25 "2005-07-20T15:16:15Z")
Off topic, but doesn’t it make sense to slow down next to an accident to make things safer for all the medical/police/fire people walking around the accident site? ---
**Author:** ![Ragiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ragiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ragiel)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-rubbernecking/313257/26 "2005-07-20T16:01:57Z")
In Michigan, drivers are required to slow down when any emergency vehicle is signaling by the road, and to move into the far lane if one is available. This is to avoid further accidents if debris in the road, ambulance transfers, confused accident victims, or fleeing felons present a danger. At least that’s the way a state trooper explained it when he pulled me over for not doing so. He was very nice about it and only issued a warning, but I haven’t forgotten. ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-rubbernecking/313257/27 "2005-07-20T16:22:55Z")
I don’t buy various posters’ assertions that drivers looking at the accident is not a factor. Accidents frequently cause slowdowns on the other side of a divided interstate. Of course, this applies more in cases where traffic is slowed but still moving 35mph or whatever. I’ve caught myself slowing down a couple of times. I can’t help thinking, “Is she okay? Should I help somehow?” even when police, paramedics, etc. are on the scene. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-rubbernecking/313257/28 "2005-07-20T16:35:58Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > you can only really drive slower than, or the same speed as, the driver in front. Yep. There is a relatively long tunnel I sometimes drive through which creates traffic problems because people tend to slow down upon entering the tunnel. The road people placed a sign at the entrance of the tunnel that reads, “Maintain Speed Through Tunnel”. I have always wondered if I could get away with rear ending a slowpoke in the tunnel with the defense that I was obeying posted signage. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-rubbernecking/313257/29 "2005-07-20T16:56:18Z")
> [@JohnM](#): > > FYI, in the Philly area rubbernecking is referred to as a “gaper delay.” Why is this? Was there a memo? I was born and grew up in Montgomery County, and spent more of my childhood than I care to recall stuck on the Schuylkill Expressway and the PA turnpike to NJ. My whole life, I had heard delays-caused-by-gawkers referred to as “rubbernecking.” Then I go away to New York for a decade, and when I come back to visit my parents now, KYW and all the other radio and TV stations are suddenly talking about “Gaper delay”. WTF? Where did this term come from all of a sudden? I’d never heard of it before in my life. ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-rubbernecking/313257/30 "2005-07-20T17:03:33Z")
> [@awldune](#): > > I don’t buy various posters’ assertions that drivers looking at the accident is not a factor. Accidents frequently cause slowdowns on the other side of a divided interstate. Of course, this applies more in cases where traffic is slowed but still moving 35mph or whatever. > > I’ve caught myself slowing down a couple of times. I can’t help thinking, “Is she okay? Should I help somehow?” even when police, paramedics, etc. are on the scene. I completely agree. I carpool with my wife; her job is to look at the accident, mine it to drive. I see many, many drivers, who have been stuck in the same jam as I, rubbernecking. I can see their heads turn, and keep focused on the accident. They slow down. Large spaces open in front of them. People continuing to slow down and stare is DEFINITELY a continued cause of the problem. And I drive I-25 through Denver and through the [TREX construction project](http://www.trexproject.com/) every day, so I suspect I see just as much slowing and accidents as anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-rubbernecking/313257/31 "2005-07-20T17:13:50Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > Why is this? Was there a memo? I was born and grew up in Montgomery County, and spent more of my childhood than I care to recall stuck on the Schuylkill Expressway and the PA turnpike to NJ. My whole life, I had heard delays-caused-by-gawkers referred to as “rubbernecking.” Then I go away to New York for a decade, and when I come back to visit my parents now, KYW and all the other radio and TV stations are suddenly talking about “Gaper delay”. WTF? Where did this term come from all of a sudden? I’d never heard of it before in my life. The situation is a “gaper’s delay”. The act of looking at that accident is “rubbernecking”. See the difference? We call 'em Gaper’s Delays in Chicago as well. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-rubbernecking/313257/32 "2005-07-20T17:39:55Z")
> [@Necros](#): > > I completely agree. I carpool with my wife; her job is to look at the accident, mine it to drive. I see many, many drivers, who have been stuck in the same jam as I, rubbernecking. I can see their heads turn, and keep focused on the accident. They slow down. Large spaces open in front of them. People continuing to slow down and stare is DEFINITELY a continued cause of the problem. > > And I drive I-25 through Denver and through the [TREX construction project](http://www.trexproject.com/) every day, so I suspect I see just as much slowing and accidents as anyone else. Large spaces open as cars accellerate out of the jam. Simply because you can’t accellerate “together”, maintaining the 5 feet of separation you have when you’re going 5 mph. You seem to be saying that people sit there and gawk without accellerating when spaces open in front of them. 1. I doubt it. 2. Even if it is true, it will have a minimal effect on clearing the jam. Which is NOT relieved by people sitting in it for too long, but rather by people coming into it too fast from the back. Anyone who struggles with that concept should really read that link that **Jurph** provided. ---
**Author:** ![JohnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/848f3c/32.png) [@JohnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnM)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-rubbernecking/313257/33 "2005-07-20T17:44:30Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > Why is this? Was there a memo? We moved to the area in 1990, and it was one of those regionalisms that I just accepted as “always been that way.” I wasn’t aware it was a more recent development. Other examples of Delaware Valley/Philadelphia regionalisms that took some getting used to: down the Shore, the Blue Route and the Schuylkill Expressway (great way to confuse out-of-towners, as the roads are not marked with those names), and wit’ (as in “with fried onions” when ordering as cheesesteak) ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-rubbernecking/313257/34 "2005-07-20T17:50:58Z")
> [@JohnM](#): > > the Schuylkill Expressway During my time in Philly it was always pronounced “Sure Kill”.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-rubbernecking/313257/35 "2005-07-20T17:55:18Z")
I don’t doubt that rubbernecking plays a role, but undoubtedly the main reason traffic slows at an accident is because there is all sort of unusual merging that takes place. Even if the traffic is in the first lane and you are in lane 5, the merging will have an effect as folks keep squeezing to the left. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-rubbernecking/313257/36 "2005-07-20T18:05:37Z")
> [@Gangster Octopus](#): > > I don’t doubt that rubbernecking plays a role, but undoubtedly the main reason traffic slows at an accident is because there is all sort of unusual merging that takes place. Even if the traffic is in the first lane and you are in lane 5, the merging will have an effect as folks keep squeezing to the left. Not undoubtedly. For starters, like **awldune** mentioned, you’re often in a delay on the southbound side of the freeway when the accident is on the northbound side. If anything is undoubtable, it’s that that is caused solely by rubbernecking. And, there are often accidents that aren’t closing any lanes at all. But, most of all, the peristence of the “jam” after all accident vehicles and emergency vehicles have been moved is indicative that it’s not rubbernecking that allows a jam to persist, even though it might have been the cause. Merging is a while different story, and again. . . **Jurph** ’s link goes into detail about it. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-rubbernecking/313257/37 "2005-07-20T18:29:28Z")
> [@Ragiel](#): > > In Michigan, drivers are required to slow down when any emergency vehicle is signaling by the road, and to move into the far lane if one is available. Similar law in Texas that they started just a year or two ago: When there’s an emergency vehicle flashing on the side of the road, you either slow to 20MPH below the speed limit (apparantly it’s MUCH easier to react at 45MPH than it is to react at 65, or more likely, 75MPH that people normally drive on highways here) if you don’t want to slow down, you go into the left lane until you have cleared the scene. And somewhat OT: Back in WWII, “Rubbernecking” was the name for a practice encouraged of military pilots: Always looking in different directions, lest you be suprised by Luftwaffe fighters coming in to shoot at ya. Presumably pilots of all the various air forces had similar practices with their own names for them. ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-rubbernecking/313257/38 "2005-07-20T18:37:00Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > You seem to be saying that people sit there and gawk without accellerating when spaces open in front of them. > > 1. I doubt it. > > 2. Even if it is true, it will have a minimal effect on clearing the jam. Which is NOT relieved by people sitting in it for too long, but rather by people coming into it too fast from the back. > > Anyone who struggles with that concept should really read that link that **Jurph** provided. Doubt it all you want, but it’s absolutely true. Instead of staring open-mouthed at the next wreck you find yourself driving by, look at the drivers around you, and you’ll see what I mean. 😉 And I have read the link. I read it years ago when it was first posted on this board. In fact, the guy who wrote it is, or used to be, a member here. But that doesn’t mean I agree with it, and I don’t believe I’m alone. I seem to recall some opinions that it doesn’t really work that way in real life. I’d love for a traffic engineer to chime in on this. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-rubbernecking/313257/39 "2005-07-20T18:58:29Z")
> [@Necros](#): > > Doubt it all you want, but it’s absolutely true. Instead of staring open-mouthed at the next wreck you find yourself driving by, look at the drivers around you, and you’ll see what I mean. Oh, ok. I thought it was just true. . .not absolutely true. That was my source of confusion. I do look at other drivers. I look at them as they put the accelerator to the floor after sitting in stop n’ go traffic for the last 10 miles. I look at them as they are just sitting in a traffic jam WITH NOTHING AT ALL TO RUBBERNECK AT. Do you dispute that jams persist after all things to gawk at have been removed? Do you dispute that “traffic incidents” occur where jams occur that have nothing to do with rubbernecking or an initial accident? What do you think happens when all 4 lanes of a highway are closed while a tractor trailer is towed off the side of the road and up the exit ramp leaving nothing to rubberneck at? That 10 mile back up just starts rolling along again at highway speeds? None of those incidents fit into the framework of thinking that jams persist because of rubbernecking. Once a jam starts, it is a self-propagating beast, rubberneckers or no. ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-rubbernecking/313257/40 "2005-07-20T19:03:56Z")
No, I don’t dispute any of those things. Are you arguining that, invariably, all traffic jams have the exact same cause? because I was under the impression this thread was about rubbernecking, not standing traffic waves, or people who fall asleep, or slow-accellerating cars. The fact remains that some jams are caused by, and continue to be fed by, rubbernecking. Not all, but the ones we’re talking about here. Besides, if everyone was at a dead stop, and then an accident was cleared, and everyone started forward at the same time, at the same rate of accelleration, the rear of the pack WOULD instatly start to move. You cannot dispute that the delay when people begin to move from a jam causes a lot of the problems, can you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-rubbernecking/313257.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-rubbernecking/313257.md?page=3)