Consider the scenario of a crash at the side of a busy three-lane highway. Emergency responders have their vehicles’ lights flashing, a truck is on its side, and plenty of people are gathered at the spot. As drivers close in on the action, they swivel their heads and strain to catch a glimpse of what’s going on.

At the same time, those drivers put everyone around them at risk. How? They’re no longer concentrating on their central task of staying in the correct lane, at the appropriate speed, and at the right distance from other vehicles. Is it any wonder that one car crash can lead to numerous others?

Consequently, highway safety officials and organizations around the world are trying to figure out how to stop rubberneckers from fostering an environment that could lead to secondary accidents. And they’re starting by understanding the science of human nature.

A Possible Solution to the Concern of Secondary Crashes

A piece published by the Association for Psychological Science (APS) described a study conducted in Central Florida that put rubbernecking to the test. Specifically, they wondered, was it possible to reduce rubbernecking behavior if drivers couldn’t see the crash site?

While wearing eye-tracking goggles, college-age participants “drove” through one of three virtual, randomly generated scenarios. In one scenario, an accident was clearly visible. In another scenario, the accident was partially obscured by an incident screen. For the final scenario, the accident was completed covered by incident screens.

As the APS article explained, study “drivers” rubbernecked for about 12 seconds when the crash site was either fully or partially visible. However, they were only distracted for an average of four seconds when the crash site was covered by pop-up incident screens.

This small test showed that the key to getting people not to stare at accidents could lie in getting rid of the temptation, rather than trusting vehicle operators to police themselves.

Dangers of Distracted Driving

Already, the UK has invested in incident screens for its highways to tamp down on secondary accidents. And companies in the United States have engineered portable barriers that withstand wind and weather despite being lightweight and easy to set up. Proponents of these barriers say they not only stop secondary car crashes, but they protect first responders from being hit by vehicles driven by rubberneckers and speeding drivers.

Still, incident barriers remain in use only in pockets around the nation and are not standard protocol. Therefore, drivers must be constantly reminded of the dangers that come with giving in to the appeal of being “in the know” when passing an auto accident.

Distracted driving incidents claimed the lives of 3,450 drivers in 2016, and injured 391,000 more, per statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. While not all distracted driving incidents were related to rubbernecking, many could have been linked to being distracted by any roadside activity, such as a car with flashing lights and a flat tire.

Will most drivers heed these warnings the next time they witness an incident on the shoulder of the road? Hopefully, more and more people behind the wheel will accept that rubbernecking behaviors like slowing down and taking pictures can lead to dangerous outcomes.  Those that don’t put everyone at risk, including themselves. And victims of distracted drivers have every reason to pursue their legal rights if they are hurt b