What is the world’s obsession with watching car crash videos and talking about them online? They are graphic, usually awful, involving the mangling of metal and sometimes drivers, passengers and bystanders, and they don’t serve any purpose. Or do car crash videos?
With the advent of Youtube, there has never been an opportunity to see accidents like there is online today. Searching car crash videos on Youtube or Youtube car crash videos and you’ll get a ton of clips of accidents and mayhem. But why watch them?
Many people argue that these car crash videos serve a purpose, and that is to encourage safe driving in others. Some countries believe that by creating compilations of horrific car crash videos and showing them to the masses, they can help people learn from others’ mistakes. There may be some truth to that. Driving schools along with high schools have begun sharing these videos as well as telling stories or terrible car accidents in order to inform people of the dangers of distracted driving, unsafe driving, driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol and more. If lives can be saved preventatively, these videos just may serve a purpose, other than entertainment for those with morbid curiosity.
Still, there are some people who enjoy watching car crash videos for the sheer pleasure of seeing the crash. Most people don’t want to see bloodshed, but the better the accident, the more hits the car crash video gets on Youtube. People are attracted to seeing pain and anguish. We’re not sure what that says about humanity, but one thing is for sure. If watching these car crash videos can help save people’s lives by taking extra precautions while driving, then these videos serve a better purpose. If people can stomach watching car crash videos and put themselves in the driver’s seat as it were, and directly apply the impact and the anguish to their own lives somehow, it just might make better drivers out of people.
Of course, there are people out there that argue watching car crash videos somehow desensitizes viewers in a way that makes them more likely to try risky driving or practice unsafe driving. The theory being that if people watch accidents where people were driving foolishly and crashed but no one was severely injured, that the risk is worth it.
The psychological affects of watching car crash videos have not yet been determined as good or bad. At this point, we say, watch at your own risk and take away what you will. Just make sure it’s not you who is taking chances in the driver’s seat.
