Incident Or Collision, Not Accident – Police Say…
For a long time, the word accident meant any crash involving one or more vehicles on the road – and nobody thought anything of it.
But speak to an insurer or police officer, and they’ll tell you there’s a big difference between an ‘accident’ and an incident or collision.
The word accident assumes no blame on any part but using that terminology before any investigation has taken place is not accurate, the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) say.
There are official guidelines for road collision reporting and the NPCC have recently praised the efforts of police forces around the UK for phasing out the word ‘accident’ in reporting.
It might seem like something minor, but Police Chiefs are working hard to change perceptions of collisions on the roads.
The idea is to ensure that when reporting on an incident, the words used should describe the incident in a way that others can corroborate and come forward to assist with evidence.
One area the NPCC have admitted needs improvement is the use of language describing vehicles as being involved in a collision, rather than a person – the worry is that can dehumanise the incident in the mind of the reader.
With Police and authorities aiming to reduce the number of incidents due to speeding, distracted driving and drink & drug driving, the reporting and communication used is a crucial tool to help deliver reduced incident numbers.
