Today, on my way home, I hopped onto the 5 freeway like any other day. Except today, the cars weren’t moving.
“Must be an accident,” was of course the first thing I said outloud to the invisible people in my car.
Half an hour later, I found the culprit. It WAS an accident—on the other side of the freeway. There was absolutely no reason for my side of the freeway to be stopped. Except that all those nosey people wanted to get a look at some other person’s misery.
Sure, it’s tempting. I understand. But I think rubbernecking is one of the most obnoxious acts that a human participates in.
And it’s not so safe either. A study found that rubbernecking causes 16 percent of accidents on the road. That was followed by driver fatigue, looking at scenery and changing your radio.
In a city like Los Angeles, with 8 million people clustered together in this cesspool, I would have to suggest that we all just mind our own business and keep our eyes on the uneven pavement.
Rebecca M Ford 