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Motor vehicle Crash versus Accident : A change in terminology is necessary
Author(s) -
Stewart Alan E.,
Lord Janice Harris
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1023/a:1016260130224
Subject(s) - crash , vehicle accident , blame , accident (philosophy) , poison control , injury prevention , psychology , terminology , human factors and ergonomics , suicide prevention , occupational safety and health , computer security , aeronautics , forensic engineering , applied psychology , medical emergency , engineering , medicine , social psychology , computer science , philosophy , linguistics , surgery , epistemology , pathology , programming language
We assert that motor vehicle erash should replace motor vehicle accident in the clinical and research lexicon of traumatologists. Crash encompasses a wider range of potential causes for vehicular crashes than does the term accident. A majority of fatal crashes are caused by intoxicated, speeding, distracted, or careless drivers and, therefore, are not accidents. Most importantly, characterizing crashes as accidents, when a driver was intoxicated or negligent, may impede the recovery of crash victims by preventing them from assigning blame and working through the emotions related to their trauma.