Car Crashes and Accidents

So why do people like to rubberneck at accidents? First we have to figure out why we are attracted to to the "train wreck". (Brittany Spears comes to mind.) Humans have long enjoyed a good display of carnage. Take for example the Roman Gladiator. People packed the Colluseum to catch a glimpse of blood, gore, and man displaying his most primal instincts. Even today, some of our most beloved sports, Football, Nascar, and the UFC (which are all fantastic displays of men trying to outperform the other) grab our attention by giving us a chance to see some blood, fire, or mangled steel. It excites us and triggers caveman-like screams of excitement! Ohhhhhh! Did You See That?! Wow! Hell Yeah!!!! ...as well as other not so proper phrases. I believe it takes us back to our hunter-gatherer roots when the tribe would gather around a fresh kill and celebrate the fact that they were going to be able to eat. It's a primal instinct that continues to urge us into slowing down in order to take in the full fury of a head on collision.
There's also the thought that we might get to see something rarely witnessed and one of a kind. Accidents are a daily occurance yet we never seem to grow tired of staring and rubbernecking at the scene of a guy who 'T-boned' another car, or the crime scene with cops and reporters everywhere. We're just suckers for sensationalism and mayhem! Look at the popularity of shows like "Shockwave" and other "caught on tape" shows. They've made quite a pretty penny off of the misfortunes of others, and we just eat it up. Most of us don't realy want to see someone hurt or even worse killed, but the programming in our brains (especially us males) seems to spur us into seeking out an occasional car accident, fire, or catastrophe. So for all of you "rubberneckers" out there, please be careful and curteous if you are in traffic or we might end up rubbernecking at you!