For Media
- Individuals who have been injured or who have lost loved ones in crashes are available for interviews about their experiences and their calls for change.
- We encourage using the following language: roadway, or traffic, “crash” not “accident,” as recommended by the Associated Press. More background.
- Recognize common patterns of crashes, rather than portraying them as isolated incidents. For example, there are often consistent themes related to poor roadway design or conditions, or high speeds or super-sized vehicles, that show a fuller context of the systems and environments people are moving in.
- Use language that describes people involved, rather than de-humanizing actions. For instance, automobiles do not act on their own volition, ex: “a car hit a pedestrian .” More appropriately, this was “a person driving a large SUV hit a person walking”.
- Avoid victim-blaming: Implying that a person hit while walking was at fault because she was “wearing dark clothes” is inappropriate, similar to pointing out the victim of a sexual assault for “wearing a short skirt.”
For more information & interviews, contact:
- Leah Shahum, Vision Zero Network, leah (at) visionzeronetwork .org
- Amy Cohen, Families for Safe Streets, amy (at) familiesforsafestreets.org
Journalists may use this video or parts of it in coverage. Please credit the National Safety Council. For more information, reach out at info@wdor-usa.org.