this post was submitted on 19 Dec 2023
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It’s not about the dictionary definition of the term. It’s about the subconscious effect your choice of language has on how people think about things. When you call something an accident it gives people the signal that there was nothing that could have been done, and so nothing does get done. There’s no pressure on politicians and engineers in most of the anglosphere to do any of the things that would actually improve road safety. Indeed, a lot of the time when they do try to make our roads safer, you see fearmongering and NIMBY opposition against the idea.
Changing the language is one small step in helping to make our roads safer by making it clearer that making them safer is something we need to be concentrating on.
You are clearly mixing up the phrase "an act of God" with "accident"
The former implies nothing could be done and is said after accidents, but the latter is what we're discussing and it does not imply that at all
An insanely popular saying is that "regulations are written in blood" after all
Go back and reread the comment that you just replied to. Because nothing at here is even remotely related to it.
The only way it would affect "how people think about things" is if people don't understand what "accident" means. Which is what happens when people like yourself intentionally spread that sort of disinformation.