Phasing out the word ‘accident’

As police prepare their festive anti-drink and drug driving operations, new analysis reveals that forces have largely phased out the word ‘accident’. Research, conducted by the author of the UK’s Road Collision Reporting Guidelines, and funded by the Foundation for Integrated Transport, analysed 227 press releases from 45 police forces across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as using Freedom of Information requests.

It found use of ‘accident’ is now the exception, rather than the rule – appearing just eight times, generally as apparent ‘slips of the tongue’ in quotes from officers. The guidelines also highlight the importance of referring to the drivers, rather than their vehicles, when describing collisions.

More than two thirds (70%) of police news stories still refer to vehicles as participants in crashes, while almost a quarter (22%) describe vehicles as ‘acting’ in those collisions. Some of the more extreme examples outlined in the report describe vehicles ‘attempting to drive the wrong way’, ‘intentionally swerving’ or even ‘acting suspiciously’. Typical examples include ‘a collision involving a pedestrian and a Mercedes’.

Research shows this focuses audience attention, and blame, towards those injured in a collision, by as much as 30%. Simply adding the terms ‘being driven’, or ‘driver’ to a sentence can create a more balanced public understanding of collisions, the report says.