Accidents Are Now Crashes
Michael Babboni
Car Accidents
It’s a very subtle change in the way we use language, but language has power, and it seems like many people across the country are trying use that power. What started as a grass roots movement among everyday Americans is gaining traction with Federal officials, municipal and state leaders and important decision makers at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. And it’s all centering around a phrase that has been in use for over a century; “car accident.”Now many people, including policy makers are beginning to believe that we should change our usage over to “car crash” instead. The reason, like the word itself, seems to be subtle, but the implication isn’t when you stop and think about it.
Randomness vs Neglect
One of the key points about word usage is the perception it gives when certain words are employed. The argument goes that referring to an incident as a car accident gives off the wrong impression. There’s a sense that this was something unavoidable, an act of God, or destiny, something that is no one’s fault, because it was simply fated to happen.
A crash, on the other hand, describes the act itself, rather than making an early judgment about the cause of the incident. A crash sounds exactly like what it is; a forceful collision between objects that should never have been in the same place at the same time. It forces people to look at the actual consequences—since that’s what it describes—rather than be given a premature “cause” which would be, “It’s nobody’s fault, it just happened,” in the case of an accident.
Rising Numbers
One of the big reasons for this change of heart in word use is the change in automobile injury and fatality figures in America. It keeps growing. Despite the fact that there is more awareness about substance abuse while on the road, harsh legal penalties for being at fault, and even better technology in the form of sturdier car design and even electronics designed to assist in driving, the rate of car mishaps is still climbing.
Of course, part of that is due to America’s own growing population. As more people grow up and become old enough to drive a car, more people are hitting the road. But a growing population of drivers can’t be the only factor to account for the rise over the last 50 years of injuries and fatalities related to cars on the road. In 2015 alone, there was an 8% rise in traffic fatalities, resulting in the deaths of 38000 Americans due to automobile related incidents.
The St. Pete Lawyer understands the thinking behind this. Distracted driving has been on the rise, with people taking their eyes off the road and keeping it on their phone. This is one of the most easily preventable acts of driving neglect in the world, and there’s absolutely no excuse when it happens. An accident is a spilled cup of coffee, not deciding to check email or text messages and then impacting into someone else’s car, or, worse yet, someone else.
Changing States
We’re already seeing this change of words at an official level. New York state, for example, made the switch in 2014, not long after an “accident” resulted in the death of a little boy in Brooklyn in 2013. The state of Nevada is also taking similar steps. In January of this year, a near unanimous vote went through legislature that will change the use of the word “accident” to “crash” in many official state documents. This is especially true in cases of financial or legal documentation, such as police and insurance reports.
Even the media, such as the Associated Press, which creates the stylebook American journalists are expected to follow when composing stories, has taken a stand. The AP stylebook is essentially the rules of usage and grammar that professional journalists follow for the sake of consistency in language and reporting style. Now, the Associated Press has decided that, should an automobile incident be proven to have some component of neglect, journalists are advised to use the word “crash,” not “accident” to make it clear that the offender is not being exonerated of blame.
Taking Responsibility
This is a very encouraging move for car crash lawyers, as it better helps both people and the automotive industry to understand an injury or even loss of life is not some random, unpredictable, uncontrollable event, like a bolt of lightning. Famed American writer Stephen King would not have spent months crippled in the hospital if a driver had not chosen to discipline his dogs just as he was driving up a hill and couldn’t see it over it. When a video on YouTube appears with people singing to the camera, completely ignoring the road until their car rolls over, that wasn’t a circumstance beyond anyone’s control. It’s a subtle change, but the word “crash” forces us to ask “Who is responsible for this” when a tragedy occurs, rather than accept it as a unfortunate occurrence that no one could prevent.