Policy - Riverside PD - Not all crashes are "accidents"

Riverside, Illinois Police Chief Tom Wentzel has established a policy that his officers are avoid use of  "accident" in reference to road crashes.   

NYC and SF have similar policies.  

Writings on #CrashNotAccident

Organizational Support:

NY Families for SafeStreets - Crash Not Accident

NHTSA - Crashes Aren’t Accidents

RoadPeace – Crash Not Accident campaign

We Save Lives – Crashes aren’t Accidents

Media – Blogs:

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"
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'

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

TransAlt - Get #CrashNotAccident in the AP Stylebook

Missourian - Crash or accident? MoDOT emphasizes crucial difference

Bike Pittsburgh - Why We Say Crash Not Accident - Remembering Mark Popovich

Reclaim Magazine - Accidentally On Purpose

Wired - Stop Calling My Daughter's Death a Car Accident

CityLab - Why we say 'car accident, and why we need to stop

BoingBoing - Car Accidents Aren't Accidents

Washington Post - When a car crash isn’t an accident and why the difference matters

Gizmodo - There Are No Accidents

Alabama DUI Prosecutor - Word Choice Matters: Crash vs. Accident

Arizona Bike Law - Was that an accident, or a crash?

Vox - We don’t say “plane accident.”  We shouldn’t say “car accident” either

Virginia HeraldCourier - Who’s behind the wheelnow?

StreetsBLOG USA - It’s time for AP to nix the term “accident” to describe car collisions

Treehugger.com - Sign the pledge: “It’s a crash, not an accident.”

DrivingUnderTheInfluence - Blog - A word on words: Accidents

Driving.ca- Why there’s no such thing as a car “accident”

Business Insider - The one word that everyone should stop using to describe car crashes

AnnaLeah and Mary - Our crash was not an accident

Safe Driving Blog - Is it an accident of a collision?

Law Blog – Why you should say crash not accident

Biking Blog – Was that an accident, or a crash?

Quoted - The A-word: Is there no such thing as a car“accident”?


DriversEd.com - Why we use crash, not accident, when talking about collisions. 

Watertown Daily Times - "Accident" versus "Crash - Is there a difference?

Living Streets Alliance - Accidents vs. Collisions

CityLab - It's no 'accident': NYPD changes the way it take about traffic deaths

Bicycling.com - Call it a crash, not an accident

BBC - Audio Debate - Should accidents be called 'collisions'?

NY Times - 'Collision' replacing 'accident' for NYPD

University of California, Merced - How people talk about car accidents

Healthy Communities - Crash! On how we need to change how we talk about car crashes

Planetizen - Does it matter if we call crashes "accidents"?

Philebrity - Traffic Deaths Aren't "Accidents"

Jamestown Sun - Getting Rid of "Accidents"

Northland News Center - Officials on a mission to change how we refer to car crashes
The Car Connection - Stop talking about 'accidents', start talking about 'collisions'
The NewsWheel - This Was No Accident; This Was a Crash

Podcasts:

Philly Bike Coalition - Crash Not Accident

Counter Arguments:

Reason.com - Crashes Caused by Negligence Are Still Accidents

Mother Jones – Crash vs. Accident doesn’t seem like it matters much

Slate – Activists want to replace accident with crash. Not so fast

Sun Sentinel - No longer will accidents happen

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

Riverside Police Chief Stands Up for #crashnotaccident

Cynthia Grosse - Riverside Police

Just outside of Chicago today, a drunk driver struck and badly injured an 8 year old boy who was riding his bike in front of his house.   It's this kind of tragedy that makes us cringe when we hear reporters call it an "accident".   

Criminals love that reporters call their crimes "accidents".  

Fortunately, Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel was having none of it.  This from today's (9/17/15) Chicago Tribune. 

"Drunk driving is a violent criminal act and this crash demonstrates that," Weitzel said in a statement. "Make no mistake, this is not an accident. This is a purposeful act, a crash, and it is a crime that is 100 percent preventable.

The Chicago Tribune covered the story well.   Unfortunately, other Chicago media weren't swayed by Chief Weitzel's plea:

• WLS ABC 7 - Called it an "accident" four times - here
• Fox 32 - Called it an "accident" twice - here

State DOT's that get it right

Yesterday we posted a list of state DOT's that incorrectly use the word "accident" in their road reports.  Below is a list of DOT's that get it right.  They use crash or collision, or in some cases incident. The good news is that 28 states avoid referencing highway incidents as "accidents".  

Let's give credit where credit is due.  Thanks to these DOT's for getting it right.  

Arizona                                 @arizonaDOT

Colorado                               @coloradoDOT
Florida                                   @fl511_i75

Illinois                                   @IDOT_Illinois

Indiana                                 @TrafficWise  @INDOT

Iowa                                     @IowaDOT  @statewideia511

Hawaii                                  @honolulupolice

Kansas                                 @KDOTHQ

Kentucky                              @KYTC511

Maine                                   @maineDOT1

Maryland                              @mdotnews

Massachusetts                     @massDOT

Michigan                               @michiganDOT

Minnesota                            @mndottraffic

Mississippi                           @mississippiDOT

Missouri                               @StLouisTraffic

Maryland                              @theMDTA

Nebraska                             @NDOR

Nevada                                @nevadadot

New Hampshire                   @newhampshireDOT

North Dakota                       @NDDOTfargo

Oregon                                 @oregonDOT

Rhode Island                       @RIDOTNews

Tennessee                           @TN511

Utah                                     @UDOTTRAFFIC

Vermont                               @511VT

Wisconsin                            @WisconsinDOT                      

Washington                          @wsdot_traffic
Wyoming                              @WYDOT_I80

State DOT's that still call crashes "accidents"

The US DOT recently re-interated its policy on why they use the word "crash" instead of "accident".  The policy was established in the 90's.   Unfortunately 21 state DOT's never got the word, and continue to use the word in their communications.  These agencies need to understand that their words are wrong, hurtful and harmful. 

Alaska                                   @alaska511

Arkansas                               @AHTD

California                               @caltransHQ

Connecticut                           @CTDOT_Statewide

Delaware                               @DelawareDOT

Georgia                                 @GADeptofTrans

Montana                                @mdroadreport

PennDOT                              @511PAstatewide

New Jersey                           @511NJ

New Mexico                          @nmroads_test

New York                              @NYSDOT

N. Carolina                           @NCDOT

Louisiana                              @NS_Traffic

Ohio                                      @ODOT_Cleveland

Oklahoma                             @OKDOT

South Carolina                      @scdotpress

South Dakota                        @SouthDakotaDOT

Texas                                    @TxDOT

Virginia                                  @511statewideva
West Virginia                         @WVDOT

Crash versus Accident - Recent Activity

A lot has been written over the last several days regarding the semantics of crashes. Below are links to the recent postings.  We encourage you to dive into the comments sections, which have been quite active.

Washington Post – Wonkblog - Monday, August 24

When a car‘crash’ isn’t an ‘accident’ — and why the difference matters

Mother Jones - Monday, August 24

"Crash" vs."Accident" Doesn't Seem Like It Matters Very Much

Mother Jones - Tuesday, August 25

"Accident" vs."Crash": Round 2

Today, the US Department of Transportation re-interated its policy on the word “accident” in this tweet.  

When a car ‘crash’ isn’t an ‘accident’ — and why the difference matters

Washington Post - August 24, 2015

By Emily Badger 

An "accident" is, by definition, unintentional. We accidentally drop dinner plates, or send e-mails before we're done writing them. The word also suggests something of the unforeseen — an event that couldn't have been anticipated, for which no one can be blamed.

That second connotation is what irks transportation advocates who want to change how we talk about traffic collisions. When one vehicle careens into another or rounds a corner into a pedestrian — call it a "crash," they say, not an "accident."

"Our children did not die in 'accidents,'" says Amy Cohen, a co-founder of the New York-based group Families for Safe Streets. Her 12-year-old son was hit and killed by a van on the street in front of their home in 2013. "An 'accident,'" she says, "implies that nothing could have been done to prevent their deaths."

Read the full story here.