Another Earth/Headscratchers

Why is John looking for his family on Earth 2? If the accident never happened and they are alive, won't his counterpart also be alive? Also, what good is it for Rhoda to know that she could have indeed been successful if she hadn't been driving drunk?
- For part 1, I think the implication is that he, not his wife and kid(s), died in the car crash. As for part 2, I'm just as baffled as you.
  - Or the last scene is actually taking place on Earth 2. And it's Earth 2 that sent a shuttle to Earth 1 only it's John takes the place of the Earth 2 Rhoda.
    - Oh, that's a good point! I'll toss that on the WMG page.
No one, once contact with the New Earth is established, contacts anyone else? No one on either side calls ahead and says "These are the names of the people coming over, please let their doubles know"?
- There are about six billion people spread throughout a lot of places on each Earth, though; even if advance warning was sent that's a lot of people to track through in order to notify a relative handful that their doubles are coming. And that's assuming everyone signed up with their real names, or that people haven't moved about in the meantime (the implication being that people's lives have diverged significantly on each Earth since they were discovered), and so forth.
The trip to Earth 2 contest is established before they even know what's over there?
So how exactly is this Earth out there? Is it following the earth in its orbit? Are the two planets orbiting each other?
- No one is afraid the two planets will collide?
  - This really isn't supposed to be Trek-style Sci Fi movie in which everything is explained. It's actually more of a modern style fairy tale with a magical event. The movie is how it impacts these two people (and presumably their doubles)
    - Oh, I'm aware of that and loved the movie - but this is the Headscratchers page...