Dubai: Dr Carey Kirk, a counselling psychologist based in Dubai, says that the act of observing an accident site is just so we are aware of the situation.
She said: “People feel the need to slow down and see what is happening because we do not like uncertainty. Our brains motivate us to find answers, even in an unpleasant situation because knowing an unpleasant truth often feels better than being left with the question of what happened. Our brains are wired to make meaning out of our surroundings and experiences and this makes it easier to do when we have more information. Our brains are also hard wired to scan our environment for threats. When we come across an accident, we do not stop to look for fun but as a way to gather information about threat and how to keep ourselves safe. We want to know how the accident took place and whether there are any people injured so that we can file this information away for future reference.”
At a personal level, we try to empathise with the people involved. So, we may complain on a daily basis about the people who rubberneck and delay everyone around them, but in reality, they are only connecting with others.
Kirk said: “When we see an accident, we try to connect empathically with the people involved by exploring questions such as, “what if it happened to me?”. It gives us the opportunity to reflect on the impermanence of life and can elicit gratitude for our lives and the lives of those we love. They can also help us feel closer and more connected to people on a human level. Questions such as, “could it happen to me?”, also help us evaluate our behaviour as a way to keep ourselves safe in the future.”
Regardless of this, Kirk believes that rubbernecking can take our attention away from the road, which can be dangerous for us and the motorists around.
She said: “Since our brains are drawn to look at accidents, rubbernecking can be a source of additional accidents as motorists divert their attention away from the path of their vehicle to observe the scene. Becoming aware of this impulse is the first step in keeping ourselves safer on the road. When we are aware that our attention will be drawn towards an accident, we can then make a choice to either pull over so that we can get out of the way of other traffic or keep our focus on the road ahead. By doing this, we keep ourselves and other motorists around us safer.”
