The Least Accidental Car "Accident" Ever

The #CrashNotAccident movement asks us to stop referring to vehicle collisions as "accidents." A great example of why it's the wrong term to use comes from my local New Bedford Standard-Times, which used the term three times in describing a recent incident downtown.

Police say 38-year-old Heather Gonsalves:

• Got drunk, then got in her car despite having a suspended license
• Hit a parked car
• Hit an 85-year-old woman
• Left the crime scene
• Came back
• Almost ran over a firefighter
• Refused to stop for a police officer
• Went the wrong way down a one-way street
• When police finally stopped her, she was still drinking in the car

Whoops! An accident! Like when I dropped an egg in my kitchen this morning!

Why is it so important to use the right language? From CrashNotAccident.com:

Before the labor movement, factory owners would say "it was an accident" when American workers were injured in unsafe conditions.

Before the movement to combat drunk driving, intoxicated drivers would say "it was an accident" when they crashed their cars.

Planes don’t have accidents. They crash. Cranes don’t have accidents. They collapse. And as a society, we expect answers and solutions.

Traffic crashes are fixable problems, caused by dangerous streets and unsafe drivers. They are not accidents. Let’s stop using the word "accident" today.

Despite it all being totally accidental, for some reason police are charging Gonsalves with:

• Leaving the scene of personal injury
• Operating a car under the influence of alcohol
• Negligent operation of a motor vehicle
• Operating after suspension of license
• Failing to stop for a police officer
• Leaving the scene of property damage
• Assault with a dangerous weapon
• Possession of an open container of alcohol on a public way

Put Transit Where People Need to Go (Especially If They're Drunk)

Tonight begins New Bedford's 99th annual Feast of the Blessed Sacrament, a drinking-intensive event with no nighttime public transit.

Just this week, New Bedford Standard Times columnist Steve Urbon lamented how the city's recently-launched downtown shuttle service has few passengers. Urbon speculates the route was designed not around where people already need to go but where tourism officials would like people to go.

Why not take advantage of the opportunity to introduce thousands of potential new customers to the service by offering a special & late-running Feast Shuttle? Give them fliers for the normal shuttle routes that they can read the next morning while they're recovering from their skull-crushing Madeira wine headaches?

A Drinking Festival Without Transit Means Pretending Drunk Driving Doesn't Exist

The Green Miles went to the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament in New Bedford last weekend, billed as the world's largest Portuguese feast with over 100,000 visitors expected. It's also one of Massachusetts' largest drinking events, with two full days and two additional nights of beer, liquor, and strong madeira wine imported exclusively for the Feast.

There is no transit to this event after 6pm when local bus service ends. While some people walk to the event, most drive. (And many attendees pay $5-10 for parking. Not just bad for the environment and potentially dangerous, but also inconvenient and expensive. What's not to like?)

Much like last year's Beer, Bourbon & BBQ festival at National Harbor south of DC, if you're hosting a drinking event with limited or no transit, you're turning a blind eye to drunk driving. In New Bedford's case, how much would it cost to run a bus for the weekend between the site and nearby downtowns? Isn't that cost worth preventing even one drunk driving incident?

But hey, at least the Portuguese Feast stopped selling giant 20 ounce cups of 38-proof madeira, so, problem solved, amirite?