We’ve Been Brainwashed Into Saying ‘Car Accident’: Crash v Accident
Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 7:36 pm
We’ve Been Brainwashed Into Saying ‘Car Accident’
The #crashnotaccident campaign says our words matter.
which begins...
The #crashnotaccident campaign says our words matter.
which begins...
- The phrase “car accident” is used almost reflexively, both in colloquial and media contexts. It hardly seems objectionable: its dictionary definition is “an event that is not planned or intended.” And no one intends to crash their car.
But we do make choices that lead to car accidents.
In the 1960s, William Haddon, the first director of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, used to make anyone who used the word “accident” in a meeting pay a ten-cent fine. The “A-word,” he reasoned, enabled people to take too little responsibility for the decisions that lead to driving injuries.
- The statistics seem to back him up on that. The leading causes of car crashes in America are:
Distracted driving (like texting or eating at the wheel)
Speeding
Drunk driving
All three are clearly deliberate actions.
- Is #crashnotaccident inclusive of all incidents which are currently called accidents?
Is a rollover a crash?
Guess we need to think about what word would better encompass everything currently called an 'accident' but which are not a 'crash'.
more on this soon!