Totally agree with John. WisDOT Bureau of Transportation Safety (BOTS) changed the title of their annual report from Accident Facts to Crash Facts in the early 1980’s for the reasons John states. Some 30+ years later, the legislature has not caught up to WisDOT BOTS. State Statutes still refer to these incidents as accidents and thus the form that has to be filed with WisDOT DMV when a crash occurs is an Accident Report. Perhaps the place to start is to change the state statute language from Accident to Crash. The media reports what they are fed by others like WisDOT, Police, Medical Examiners, etc. If we can change the language used by the sources, then the media will change. If the media changes, then the public is likely to follow suit after a period of exposure to the new terminology.
Here are a few of the references in the state statutes that will need to be purged of the term “accident” CHAPTER 346 RULES OF THE ROAD SUBCHAPTER XI ACCIDENTS AND ACCIDENT REPORTS 346.66 Applicability of sections relating to accidents and accident reporting 346.67 Duty upon striking person or attended or occupied vehicle. (1) The operator of a vehicle involved in an accident shall reasonably investigate what was struck and if the operator knows or has reason to know that the accident resulted in injury or death of a person or in damage to a vehicle . . . 346.675 Vehicle owner’s liability for failing to stop at the scene of an accident 346.69 Duty upon striking property on or adjacent to highway. The operator of any vehicle involved in an accident . . . shall make report of such accident when and as required in s. 346.70. 346.70 Duty to report accident; assistance following accident. 346.71 Coroners or medical examiners to report; require blood specimen. (1) Every coroner or medical examiner shall, on or before the 10th day of each month, report in writing any accident involving a motor vehicle . . . 346.72 Garages to keep record of repairs of accident damage 346.73 Accident reports not to be used in trial Here is a link to the MV4002 form, Driver Report of an Accident wisconsindot.gov/Documents/formdocs/mv4002.pdf This WisDOT page does refer to Crashes http://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/dmv/license-drvs/rcd-crsh-rpt/crashreporting.aspx Annual Wisconsin Crash Facts archives http://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/safety/education/crash-data/crashfacts-archive.aspx The following has appeared at the bottom of the first page of this report every year since they made this change in the early 1980’s Crashes, Not Accidents Traffic crashes are not accidents, but avoidable events caused by a single variable or chain of variables. Dedicated to reducing traffic injuries and fatalities by addressing the factors that cause them, the Bureau of Transportation Safety coordinates a statewide behavioral highway safety program. Arthur Ross, Pedestrian-Bicycle Coordinator City of Madison Traffic Engineering Division 215 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Suite 100 PO Box 2986 Madison, WI 53701-2986 608/266-6225
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