Among the whole long list of anti-social behaviour manifest within drivers on our congested roads, there is one particularly abhorrent bad habit on the road that leads to gnash my teeth in frustration. Rubbernecking. (Yes, there is such a word).

In our context, rubbernecking is derived from the action involved when a kaypoh road driver practically cranes his neck 180 degrees to get a long and lasting view of something that has caught his or her eye. In the process, said driver will slow his or her car down to a crawl so that they may ogle at whatever caught their eye in the first place. Usually, this is a road traffic accident of some sort.

This behaviour gets even more deplorable when it takes place on the other side of the road from the actual accident.

Don't the drivers realise that by slowing down to stare they are actually creating jams out of nothing? Don't they realise that by slowing down they are causing the very same jams that they have been sitting in just moments before? Don't they realise it is rude to ogle over some other person's misery? Don't they know that for those very few seconds that they have their curiosity enraptured that they are increasing the risk of causing another accident?

And above all, the reason this gets me so riled up is that this behaviour causes traffic jams which would have been avoidable by simple discipline! It is not a road traffic accident which may occur for blameless or blameworthy reasons. It is not a natural congestion caused by peak hour traffic and too many cars. The reason why other drivers behind are forced to sit out in a bad jam wasting their time is simply because of some drivers trying to satisfy their morbid curiosity to liven up their dreary lives!

Talk about selfish!