Sometimes a word can make the difference.
When it comes to cars, we prefer to talk about crashes, as opposed to accidents. That’s because “accident” implies something that could not have been avoided.
Except we believe they can.
According to the Canadian Motor Vehicle Traffic Collision Statistics[1], in 2017, nearly 30% of deaths due to crashes happened to people who were not wearing their seat belts. Don’t you think that’s too high? Don’t you think all these deaths could have been avoided had people made a different choice?
You would think being a little older would make you wiser, but stats say otherwise.
Studies show that 21 % of all deaths due to drinking and driving were actually among young adults between 20 and 25 years old, whereas 8.5 % were among youth between 16 and 19 years old[2].
I know what you’re thinking. *I’m* not dumb enough to drink and drive or not put on my seat belt.
Hang on a second.
Have you ever answered a text while driving? Thing is, it seems like nothing. It didn’t take long. Just a few seconds with your eyes off the road. But little did you know you just increased your risk of being involved in a crash by 23 [3]. TWENTY. THREE. TIMES. That’s like… the number of times you wish you could have gone to soccer practice or the number of times you wish you could be able to count to twenty three.
Worse than injuring yourself seriously or dying would be having to live the rest of your existence knowing that you killed someone else or injured them for life.
In trauma, if we had to choose, we’d prefer it if the number of car crash deaths due to alcohol, texting or not wearing a seat belt was 0. Injuries that could have been prevented are the **worst** to see. Those definitely don’t happen “by accident”.
