Accidents banished from Highway Code

An article in the Times of May 12th 2007 observed that the word "accident" has been removed from the latest edition of the Highway Code and replaced by "collision", "crash" or "incident".

The reason appears to be that describing something as an "accident" the driver feels less responsible as they are considered unavoidable, while using these alternative words encourages drivers to see the incident as a fact for which someone is responsible.

Some motoring groups have, however, claimed that the change will "foster a blame culture and encourage the prosecution of drivers for casualties that they had no intention of causing."

Some police forces refer to RTCs (road traffic collisions) rather than the more common RTA (road traffic accident.)

* Do you agree that the choice of vocabulary in this case reflects the way we view road traffic incidents?

* Is there a neutral term we can use?

* What other examples can you find of terminology which colours a listener's attitude towards an idea, a thing or an event? Consider the difference between "freedom fighters" and "terrorists" or "chubby" and "obese". Is this the same as political correctness (crippled / handicapped / disabled), (black / negro / coloured), (chairman / chair / chairperson)?

Read this article on words to describe "Islamic State"