title: Motor vehicle crash versus accident: a change in terminology is necessary.
abstract: We assert that motor vehicle crash 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville 32611-2250, USA. aestewrt@ufl.edu
authors.forename: Alan E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.forename: Janice Harris
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lord
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000209:etiology; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014481:United States