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Drop The "A" Word - Not all crashes are accidents

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

FMCSA Letter to Editors and Correspondants

A Crash is Not an Accident

EDITORS AND CORRESPONDENTS
A crash is not an accident.
Changing the way we think about events and the words we use to describe them affects the way we behave. Motor vehicle crashes occur "when a link or several links in the chain" are broken. Continued use of the word "accident" implies that these events are outside human influence or control. In reality, they are predictable results of specific actions.
Since we can identify the causes of crashes, we can take action to alter the effect and avoid collisions. These are not Acts of God but predictable results of the laws of physics.
The concept of "accident" works against bringing all appropriate resources to bear on the enormous problem of highway collisions. Use of "accident" fosters the idea that the resulting damage and injuries are unavoidable.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

The Drop the 'A' Word library - Articles on the issue (Pro and Con)

Organizational Support:





Media and Blogs:




Safety Driven - Accident or Collision?


StreetsBlog LA - Was That an Accident?







Houston Chronicle - Why we need to change the way we talk about traffic deaths

TeenSafe blog - What's the difference between a crash and an accident?

ETA Insurance - Words are powerful. Choose them carefully

Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF) - Let's Talk About Crashes 

The Age - Crime, not 'accidents', often drives preventable road carnage

Bicycling Magazine - Take the #CrashNotAccident Pledge to Change How We Report Bike Deaths

JD Supra - Should we say car crash or car accident?  The language we use to classify auto collisions can be important

The Chronicle of Higher Education - Crash or Accident?

Bike NWA - #CrashNotAccident - Reframing the narrative of car bike collisions

WNCN - N. Carolina - When Vehicles Collide, What is it Called?

Driving You Crazy (Podcast) - When is a Crash Not an Accident?

Psychology Today - Accident vs. Crash - The Issue of Responsibility 

Minnesota Dept. of Public Safety - Crashes Aren't Accidents

The New York Times - It’s No Accident: Advocates Want to Speak of Car ‘Crashes’ Instead

HuffingtonPost - We've Been Brainwashed Into Saying "Car Accident"


Science Magazine - Disregarding Risk Does Not Equal an Accident

Nautilus -  How Language Helps Erase the Tragedy of Millions of Road Deaths
Kansas City Star - That Wreck Was No Accident

New York Magazine - Don’t Call a Car Crash an ‘Accident’


National Public Radio - When Cars Collide, Safety Advocates Say It's No 'Accident'


Reading Eagle - Accident or crash?  There's a difference


SFMTA - No "Accident": Why Language Matters in Making Our Streets Safer













Counter Arguments:


Studies/Research:


**** If we've missed anything, please let us know.  We'll add it.  

The Drop the 'A' Word library - Articles on the issue (Pro and Con)

Organizational Support:





Media – Blogs:












Counter Arguments:



**** If we've missed anything, please let us know.  We'll add it.  

Monday, May 23, 2016

It’s No Accident: Advocates Want to Speak of Car ‘Crashes’ Instead 

New York Times - Monday, May 23, 2016 - By Matt Richtel


CreditPhoto - Tom Gralish/The Philadelphia Inquirer, via Associated Press
Roadway fatalities are soaring at a rate not seen in 50 years, resulting from crashes, collisions and other incidents caused by drivers.Just don’t call them accidents anymore.That is the position of a growing number of safety advocates, including grass-roots groups, federal officials and state and local leaders across the country. They are campaigning to change a 100-year-old mentality that they say trivializes the single most common cause of traffic incidents: human error.