On Tue, 13 Jun 2023, Patrick Murray wrote:
I'm getting persnickety in my old age. That was not an accident, it was a
crash. Accidents imply that the collision was unavoidable and or an act of
god, which is rarely the case
eyup. I frequently send letters similar to the following:
Dear [NYC Fire Dep't] Commissioner Kavanagh:
I just came across the report in patch.com [a] of Engine 298's troubling
event yesterday, Friday, 01-April-2022.
I noticed that the FDNY rep was quoted as saying: "Engine 298 was involved
in a minor car accident".
Might I suggest it's long past time to stop referring to these, both when
involving Department vehicles, and most certainly when the event is more
general, as "accidents" and instead use the more appropriate "crashes".
In fact, this is now the preferred Federal terminology (see attached
snapshot of the change in Sec. 24102 of "Highway Safety Programs"), and
I've seen claims this was actually adopted by the NYPD a decade ago.
Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely, Dannyb
[a]
https://patch.com/new-york/foresthills/firefighters-get-car-crash-kew-gardens-fdny-says
enc: scan of Federal Register, and also screengrab ref'ing NYPD change
