Crashes are Not Accidents

A crash is not an accident. The United States Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started a campaign entitled "Crashes Aren’t Accidents" in the late 1990's. That campaign is as important today as it was then.

The idea behind this campaign was that changing the way we think about events, and the words we use to describe them, will effect the way we behave. The Department of Transportation recognized that vehicle crashes and the injuries that result from them are predictable and preventable events. It was felt that the continued use of the word "accident" promoted the concept that these events are outside human influence or control when they are, in fact, the predictable results of specific actions. It was also felt that the continued use of the term "accident" fosters the perception that the resulting injuries are an unavoidable part of life rather than predictable results of the law of physics. The Department of Transportation encouraged the use of appropriate terms such as "crash", "collision", "incident" and "injury".