It is frustrating when cars in front slow down due to a traffic jam. On a downhill, you could even see the first brakes light about half a mile in front. This is followed by a synchronized braking and you can see the chain reaction reaching you in no time. You go from a speed of 60-65 MPH to about 10-15 MPH. The slow traffic continues and you could see the vehicles coming to a stand still.
The first thing that you think is an accident in front of you. You feel sorry for the people in the collision and wait for the cop lights or emergency vehicles to pass by you. However, most of the times you will hear neither and you will still be wondering about the traffic jam. There is nothing that you can do about it. You are helpless on the highways as you have to travel a significant distance before the next exit. The cars are crawling and covering a yard can take you minutes. Those yards could be called the Longest Yards of your travel. It is about 20-30 minutes and you have not even traveled 100 yards.
After about 40-45 minutes, you see the ray of light or I would say that you see few cars releasing their brakes and moving faster. You still take about 5 minutes before you can speed up.
Hey, but what caused us to slow down? You don’t see any accident! What did I waste my hour in the traffic for? The answer to these questions is the simple emotion in a human mind, curiosity. However, this curiosity hasn’t really helped anyone.
“A person who is too nice an observer of the business of the crowd, like one who is too curious in observing the labor of bees, will often be stung for his curiosity”
- Alexander Pope
I like this quote and it is so valid when we talk about “Curiosity Delay”, which is another term for rubbernecking. A clear explanation of rubbernecking is provided by Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor-vehicle_collision)
Rubbernecking is where drivers slow down to look at recent collisions or anything out of the ordinary on the highway. Events ranging from gruesome car accidents to a police car stopped on the shoulder can cause traffic jams on both sides of the road, even if the roadway has been cleared.
The first thing that you think is an accident in front of you. You feel sorry for the people in the collision and wait for the cop lights or emergency vehicles to pass by you. However, most of the times you will hear neither and you will still be wondering about the traffic jam. There is nothing that you can do about it. You are helpless on the highways as you have to travel a significant distance before the next exit. The cars are crawling and covering a yard can take you minutes. Those yards could be called the Longest Yards of your travel. It is about 20-30 minutes and you have not even traveled 100 yards.
After about 40-45 minutes, you see the ray of light or I would say that you see few cars releasing their brakes and moving faster. You still take about 5 minutes before you can speed up.
Hey, but what caused us to slow down? You don’t see any accident! What did I waste my hour in the traffic for? The answer to these questions is the simple emotion in a human mind, curiosity. However, this curiosity hasn’t really helped anyone.
“A person who is too nice an observer of the business of the crowd, like one who is too curious in observing the labor of bees, will often be stung for his curiosity”
- Alexander Pope
I like this quote and it is so valid when we talk about “Curiosity Delay”, which is another term for rubbernecking. A clear explanation of rubbernecking is provided by Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor-vehicle_collision)
Rubbernecking is where drivers slow down to look at recent collisions or anything out of the ordinary on the highway. Events ranging from gruesome car accidents to a police car stopped on the shoulder can cause traffic jams on both sides of the road, even if the roadway has been cleared.
Although caution is advised when there is unexpected activity on the side of a road, a car with a flat tire on the side of a highway often causes as much slow down as a real accident would due to rubbernecking. The slowdown in traffic persists even after the accident scene has been cleared if traffic is dense. Traffic experts call this phenomenon a phantom accident. This behavior can potentially cause additional and sometimes more serious accidents among the distracted rubberneckers.
The phenomenon of “Curiosity Delay” was introduced to me by a local radio station that cautioned me about a delay on my commute to work. It is something that I have experienced on several occasions.
Today, when I decide to travel a long distance, I have to consider extra time for the delays due to the curious human mind. It is something that I cannot avoid because I know that Curiosity will not only kill the cat, it will also murder my time.
The phenomenon of “Curiosity Delay” was introduced to me by a local radio station that cautioned me about a delay on my commute to work. It is something that I have experienced on several occasions.
Today, when I decide to travel a long distance, I have to consider extra time for the delays due to the curious human mind. It is something that I cannot avoid because I know that Curiosity will not only kill the cat, it will also murder my time.
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