I have become conscious of how often people try to escape blame for events they cause. Starting with “I couldn’t help it” and ending with “It’s God’s will,” it seems nobody wants to accept responsibility for their actions. News reporters take this to an extreme when they report a “drunk driving accident” a term that is an obvious oxymoron. The drunk driver caused the incident. It wasn’t an accident. It could have been prevented.

When two or more vehicles crash, they all tried to occupy the same space at the same time. Is this an event that could not have been prevented? If each driver was paying attention and following traffic laws like speed limits would they have crashed? The logical answer is “Probably not.”

According to Webster’s Online Dictionary, an accident is: “Anything that happens by chance without an apparent cause.” There are the blame-escape words “chance” and “without…cause,” but is calling a traffic crash an accident a true statement? Not hardly.

If you travel freeways and main urban routes enough, you will frequently see rear-end collisions that may also have caused injury or even death. How did these vehicles come together in this way? What caused them to try to be in the same space at the same time?

Each crash probably has its own set of causes, but it's certain that somebody did something to cause the crash. It didn’t just happen. It was not an accident. Somebody stopped unexpectedly, was going too fast, or following too closely to be able to stop. They crashed. They didn’t have an accident. One or more drivers did something to cause the crash either by what they did or what they didn’t do. The collision was caused. It just didn’t happen.

I suggest that if the media and reporting agencies stop using the word “accident” and use, instead, the correct word “crash” or “collision,” the inference of blame might prevent some crashes. At least the blame would be a little harder to duck.

I know of one major transportation company that has eliminated the use of the word “accident” when their vehicles are involved in collisions. They used to have Accident Investigators. Now they are Collision Investigators. To this company, collisions are caused. They never "just happen."

Why can’t we do the same in reporting Traffic Crashes, Crash Insurance, and Crash Injuries? At least we would be accurate.