Recent Streetsblog USA posts about “Accidents”

Meet a Police Chief Who Actually Says Reckless Driving Won’t Be Tolerated

By Angie Schmitt | May 22, 2015 | 6 Comments

If only more police officials took dangerous driving as seriously as Frank Koss, chief of police in Hinesburg, Vermont. An outraged Koss took to the pages of his local paper this week after a 17-year-old driver killed a local cyclist, saying “this was not an accident.” Joseph Marshall, a teenager who already had a record of reckless driving, was […]

The Oregonian: Run a Red Light and Kill 3 Kids? “Just a Tragic Accident”

By Angie Schmitt | May 13, 2015 | 122 Comments

In February, a pickup truck driver in suburban Eugene, Oregon, ran through a red light at 40 miles an hour, killing three children — 4-year-old Tyler Hudson, 5-year-old McKenzie Hudson, and 8-year-old John Day — and critically injuring their mother. The family was walking with the right-of-way in a crosswalk, returning from getting ice cream. The response to this […]

Even When a Driver Intentionally Causes Mayhem, Media Call It an “Accident”

By Angie Schmitt | Apr 16, 2015 | 16 Comments

The New York Police Department stopped using the term “accident” to refer to car collisions because it conveys the “connotation that there is no fault or liability.” In the press, however, “accident” remains standard practice, even when a driver rams another person on purpose. The Safe Roads Alliance, an organization that promotes safe driving, tracked down […]

Trucker in Tracy Morgan Crash: Lay Off, It Was an “Accident”

By Tanya Snyder | Jun 10, 2014 | 33 Comments

If my ACCIDENT occurs with no media spotlight i am issued a few traffic tickets. The excuse of me being up 24 hours is complete BS! — Kevin Roper (@Kevinmoneytalks) June 10, 2014 Kevin Roper, the Walmart trucker who reportedly slammed into a limo bus carrying several comedians early Saturday morning, is having his say […]

Driver Who Killed Cyclist Sues the Dead Teen’s Parents

By Angie Schmitt | Apr 28, 2014 | 78 Comments

In a case the Ottawa Citizen called “astonishing evidence of the raw appeal of… victimhood,” a woman who struck and killed a teenage boy riding his bike outside of Toronto is suing the boy’s family for $1.35 million. The driver, Sharlene Simon, is seeking compensation for the “great pain and suffering” she has sustained since killing […]

Map: Where Buffalo Drivers Smash Into Buildings (Hint: Everywhere)

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 10, 2014 | 17 Comments

Cynthia Van Ness, a librarian and host of BuffaloResearch.com, put together the above map, showing the nearly 150 sites where drivers crashed into buildings in the Buffalo region and made the news since 2006. The map includes links to the media coverage of the incidents, and Van Ness points out how reporters and editors tend […]

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