I always thought that people slowed down when passing car accidents because the accidents reminded them of their own mortality or led them to believe that it was a particularly dangerous patch of road, to be driven cautiously.
A childhood belief about cars

others believed things like this
- I always thought that freak accidents where accidents that only involved freaks.— Prologic-H-73395
- i used to think that the road sign "dangerous" was actually "dang-er-roos" a kind of bouncy marsupial— owen cash
- No passing zones on the highway. How come we just kep passing those signs? — Colleen
- I used to think dead people are dangerous. — J.G.
- my bro used to belive there were smurfs in the atms passing out money— L
- Every time it thundered and rained I used to believe that God was passing wind and "peeing"!Anon