TRANSPORTATION MATTERS for IOWA

Message Monday - crashes are not accidents


1-23 message mondayCrash. Accident. These two words mean the same thing, right? Not necessarily. The word “accident” gives the impression that whatever happened was unavoidable. In every crash, there is a cause, and overwhelmingly that cause can be traced back to the behavior of a driver - a whopping 94 percent of the time according to a recent study.  The word “crash” removes the idea that these types of incidents are unavoidable.

Are you letting yourself or another driver off the hook by calling a crash an accident? This New York Times article would suggest so. It says the word accident was deliberately introduced by industries in the early 1900s as a way for manufacturers to shift the blame of workplace injuries away from the companies.

The fatality count of 14 is an increase of six since last Monday. Preliminary number show that in all of 2016, 403 people were killed on Iowa highways. To see statistics published daily by the Office of Driver Services, go to daily fatality count.

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