“Stop and stare, I think I'm moving but I go nowhere,” One Republic sang. Malaysian drivers stuck in traffic jams caused by bystanders who slow down to stare at accidents can also relate.
It has become a “culture” of sorts for us to cruise past slowly while trying to get photos or videos of the scene, giving no thought to the drivers at the back. Most of the time, the accident itself isn’t even the actual cause of the jam - it’s the bystanders causing it.
We are all humans and are naturally curious, which explains why we flock towards an incident like moths to a flame. While some may point out that spreading awareness about an accident by sharing information and photos is very helpful for other road users, it most definitely doesn’t help the ambulance, police or firemen who have to get there. What’s worse, in the event of an emergency during which the victim may have to be in hospital ASAP, the congestion all around could cause massive delays - a 10 minute drive could turn into a 30 minute drive and lead to fatality.
However, there may be some who practice slowing down out of caution. While this may also contribute to minor jams and delays, we can’t deny that being more careful around the scene of an accident is pretty important - there may be obstructions or wreckage that could pose as a danger to other road users, after all.
The takeaway from this is that while slowing down to a reasonable speed out of caution is fine, slowing down to gape, take photos and generally be kepoh is not!
By: Celestine Foo
