There is a tendency to not blame motorists in the public discourse.  It’s reflected in the terms used by officials and the media when collisions are called “accidents” and drivers “lose control of their vehicle.”

This week the Detroit News reported on Wrecks blamed on nature while the Freep Press says Slick Roads Cause Accidents.

It’s apparently easier to blame Mother Nature than Motorist Nature.

Tom Vanderbilt’s How We Drive blog had an excellent article on this topic which we covered back in October.  Though we’ve already posted this quote from Vanderbilt, it’s so good that it’s worth repeating:

Whether from personal on-road experience, or from reading studies, or from examining in-car footage of crashes and near-crashes, I am often struck by how often people seem to put themselves, and others, at great risk. Following closely at high speed on the interstate, or driving fast through a neighborhood street, they act in a way that suggests they believe that nothing could go wrong, or that they would be in control if it did. Over time, this behavior is typically rewarded, perhaps through sheer luck, until the ‘black swan’ event that they never expected actually happens. Then, as is often the case, begins a process of denial, an attempt to assuage the cognitive dissonance that has come between the image of themselves as a good and cautious driver and an event that was ‘beyond their control.’

And unfortunately our language, media, and public officials often reinforce this beyond-your-control excuse.