Crash Not Accident

Tom Roderick
by Tom Roderick

As a fan of local radio station KCRW I hear a lot of Los Angeles traffic reports. Many of these include coverage of vehicle collisions (a frightening amount involve motorcyclists). Nearly all are referred to as accidents, but most are not. For example, texting while driving and smashing into someone is an act of idiocy, not accidentalism. For years I’ve complained about the universal use of the word accident for referring to any/all traffic collisions. Finally, advocacy groups are pushing to replace the word accident with crash. “Traffic crashes are fixable problems, not accidents. Let’s stop using the word ‘accident’ today.” If you agree go to crashnotaccident.com and sign the pledge.

Tom Roderick
Tom Roderick

A former Motorcycle.com staffer who has gone on to greener pastures, Tom Roderick still can't get the motorcycle bug out of his system. And honestly, we still miss having him around. Tom is now a regular freelance writer and tester for Motorcycle.com when his schedule allows, and his experience, riding ability, writing talent, and quick wit are still a joy to have – even if we don't get to experience it as much as we used to.

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  • Thatname Thatname on May 27, 2016

    Accident implies innocent until proven guilty

  • RyYYZ RyYYZ on May 31, 2016

    Most vehicle crashes are completely avoidable and the result of negligence on the part of one or both vehicles involved. Sometimes that negligence is just a minor and temporary slip in attention at the wrong time, and I would call that an accident. Many crashes are the result of a pattern of behaviour of the driver - aggressive driving, DUI, texting while driving, lazy driving like cutting over the centreline in left hand corners, etc. The problem for the police when it comes to charging them, as it is often not possible to know which is the case.

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