I bet the word I am talking about is not what the majority of people would think of first. The word I am referring to is accident. An accident is defined as an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance. An accident is an act of fate, something over which we have no control. Newscasters drop the “a” word like mad when referencing crashes. I would like to see the “a” word banned when we talk about car crashes!
I have been working in the trauma field for nearly 11 years. The term accident is not used. We call an accident an “MVC,” or a motor vehicle collision/crash. The reason we do not use the accident word is that injuries and injury-related deaths that occur are predictable and preventable, whether it is not wearing a seatbelt, texting while driving, driving too fast for conditions, or driving under the influence. There is some element related to the crash over which someone had control.
Let’s call it like it is. It should be called a crash, or a collision. Crashes are not accidents.