National Highways is considering replacing the word ‘accident’ with the term ‘collision’, ‘crash’ or ‘incident’ following pressure from numerous organisations, MPs and families affected by traffic collisions.
However, according to reports in Fleet News, it will seek road users’ approval before approaching the DfT for permission to alter the language used on its public information signage, such as overhead gantries.
Jamie Hassall, executive director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS), told Fleet News that organisations such as National Highways and DfT “need to be leading by example”.
“The use of language is a critical part of this – the use of ‘accident’ is outdated, inaccurate, and harmful to moving road safety forwards. Most collisions are predictable and preventable and using the wrong terminology can indicate no action could have been taken to prevent it from happening.”
Crash, not accident
If you spill your coffee, that’s one thing, but when a speeding driver slams into a bus stop, killing a child in the process, it’s clearly different…so why does the language we use rarely distinguish between the two? While one can legitimately be dismissed as an accident, the other deserves to be described more carefully. Nothing less than collision or crash will do.
Words are powerful. When news outlets use the term ‘accident’, it implies the collision wasn’t preventable. The term ‘crash’ does not imply the driver is always to blame. It simply recognises that the matter deserves serious investigation – not to mention remedial measures to prevent it happening again.
After all, think about what happens when collisions occur on the railways, at sea or in the air. Pilots, drivers or skippers are suspended from duty pending the outcome of investigations. Most importantly, remedial changes to systems, regulation or the law are implemented swiftly.
It’s not altogether clear why the same thing doesn’t happen following every road fatality in Britain. However, until it does let’s at least be mindful of the way we describe road danger.
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