Language is everything

A seriously good passage (and point) in a seriously decent book about how language is really important, certainly with regards to bicycle ‘accidents’.

What is behind this terrifying road environment? The simple answer is normalisation. Even in the relatively cosseted modern world of richer countries, where fatal epidemics are rare and workplace injuries a cause for lengthy investigation, killing or maiming someone on the road is still seen as tragic but inescapable. It is, to use a ubiquitous and linguistically poisoning term, an ‘accident’.

This in turn fuels a complacent, entitled, careless driving culture where millions of people who would describe themselves as moral, kind and careful people nonetheless get into a motor vehicle and routinely, unthinkingly, put others’ lives in peril.

Peter Walker Bike Nation

Different views actually help and getting a more diverse group involved shows and educates organisations, institutions and/or companies how the use of certain terms, coupled with their typical ways of operating, don’t always help the issues they’re tackling and individuals they may be helping. In many cases, the terms often used just exacerbate deep-seated approaches and attitudes to achieving their desired results. However, meaningful, educative, adaptable and collaborative methods can actually lead to helpful and meaningful, long-term change.