Region of Rubberneckers
New research has revealed that almost half of Brits believe it is normal to be curious at the scene of a traffic accident.
New research has revealed that almost half of Brits believe it is normal to be curious at the scene of a traffic accident.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
According to the new data from Confused.com, three out of four drivers have admitted to glancing at road incidents as they drive past and more shockingly, one in ten have admitted they’d even consider reducing their speed if it meant they got a better look.
“Rubbernecking”, which is the act of slowing down in an attempt to view the aftermath of a crash, often has serious consequences such as increased congestion, minor accidents or even fatal collisions.
In order to reduce this problem, Highways England purchased 105 sets of incident screens in 2009 which are used to deter drivers on the opposite carriageway from looking at the scene of an incident. Costing £2.2m, 3000 individual screens were purchased and have been used 77 times on English and Scottish roads since.
In the North West alone, screens have been used 14 times which follows the South East with 16 and the East also with 14.
Our Chief Reporter Michelle Livesey’s been speaking to Ian Barron who’s Area Manager of the North West’s Regional Control Centre for Highways England.