Words for road traffic delays due to accident-watching

[Daniel Rosenblum]

Here in the New York City metropolitan area, the habit of
drivers of slowing down to see an accident or other unusual
roadside sight is called "rubbernecking", and hence traffic
reports will often refer to "rubbernecking delays" on the
side of a limited-access highway opposite that on which the
accident has occurred. I remember when I was a graduate
student in Pittsburgh, there was another word used there
for the same phenomenon (although I can't remember the word),
and I was also told that other areas had their own distinct
words for this phenomenon. Can we have some examples of
these words?

[Bayla Singer]

"Gaper block" [from all those people gaping at whatever] -- I heard it
first in Philadelphia, but the Chicagoans claim they invented it.

--bayla

[JOSEPH T CHEW]

"Spectator slowing" (Atlanta, mid-80s).
"Rubbernecking" (San Francisco area, current).

The latter brings to mind an obscure Zane Grey* novel called
"The Short-Stop," which is about minor-league baseball in the
late 19th century. As our heroes go through Dip-in-the-Road,
Ohio, or some such place, one of them sticks his head out the
window and yells "Rubber-neck! Rubber-neck!" at a local rube
who is craning his neck to look at the train.

*American author, b. 1875, d. 1939, prolific author of cowboys-
and-Indians fiction.

--Joe
"Just another personal opinion from the People's Republic of Berkeley"

[Richard L. Carreiro]

In article <kf92ii...@news.bbn.com> rne...@bbn.com (Ron Newman) writes:
>In Boston-area traffic reports, you often hear that
>"the curiosity factor" is causing delays.

Down in Providence, RI, a bunch of stations call it
the "gawk factor."

--
Rich Carreiro "My country, right or wrong,"
ARPA: rlc...@athena.mit.edu is like
UUCP: ...!mit-eddie!mit-athena!rlcarr "My driver, sober or drunk."
BITNET: rlc...@athena.mit.edu JITTLOV FOREVER!

[Ken Steele]

Here in Ontario, the media refer to such "bunching" of traffic as the
result of "rubbernecking" -- perhaps offering a subtle allusion to
"bottleneck" while describing the gawkish activity of the curious
rather graphically.

Ken Steele
University of Toronto

[Ron Newman]

In Boston-area traffic reports, you often hear that
"the curiosity factor" is causing delays.

--
Ron Newman rne...@bbn.com

[Mary Shafer OFA]

Looky-loos. (From a realtor's ads a few years ago.)

--
Mary Shafer DoD #0362 NASA Ames Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, CA
sha...@pioneer.arc.nasa.gov sha...@skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov
Of course I don't speak for NASA
"Turn to kill, not to engage." CDR Willie Driscoll
"Hey, Willie, how long can you tread water?" CDR Randy Cunningham

[Evan Marshall Manning]

Popular terms around LA are "spectator slowing" and "residual slowing".

One local radio station favors "Residual pinhead slowing", often shortened
to "RPS".

<<<<<<<<<<<< Evan M. Manning ========== man...@gap.caltech.edu >>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Your eyes are weary from staring at the CRT for so long. You feel sleepy.
Notice how restful it is to watch the cursor blink. Close your eyes. The
opinions stated above are yours. You can't imagine why you ever felt otherwise

[Bill Cole]

Onlooker delays