Media reporting guidelines for road collisions

In May 2021, the UK’s first media reporting guidelines were launched, in a bid to reinforce existing codes of conduct for reporting in media. The guidelines were carefully written by legal, policing and safety experts and backed up by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ).

With motoring organisations like the AA and the FIA foundation supporting them, the new guidelines relate to “core journalistic principles of accuracy, fairness, non-discrimination and justice”. These guidelines were put in place to support people involved, victims and family or victims involved in road traffic accidents, ensuring that news reports provide unbiased, informative information.

These guidelines were also enforced to avoid categorisation of certain vehicles into driving behaviours, imposing language in the media that avoids discrimination and hate.

What are the new media reporting guidelines?

The new guidelines created in collaboration with the NUJ ethics council recommend that journalists avoid the term “accident” and replacing it with terms like “crash” or say “driver” instead of specifying the vehicle driven. The new guidelines also encourage journalists to provide more information about the accident and a reasonable description of what occurred, clearly outlining the information that they yet don’t know about, to avoid misinterpretation of the incident.

The ten road collisions reporting guidelines for journalists:

1.       At all times be accurate, say what you know and importantly, what you don’t know.
2.       Avoid the use of the word “accident” until the facts of the collision are known … Using words like “crash” or “collision” instead leaves the question of who or what is to blame open, pending further decisions.
3.       If you’re talking about the driver, say driver, not vehicle.
4.       Consider the impact on friends and relatives of publishing collision details.
5.       Treat the publication of photos with caution, including user-generated footage or imagery.
6.       Be mindful if reporting on traffic delays not to overshadow the greater harm, of loss of life or serious injury which could trivialise road death.
7.       Journalists should consider whether the language used negatively generalises a person or their behaviour is a part of a group.
8.       Coverage of risks on the roads should be based on fact and context.
9.       Avoid portraying law-breaking or highway code contravention as acceptable or perpetrations as victims.
10.   Road safety professionals can help provide context expertise and advice on broader issues around road safety.

The guidelines were organised by journalist Laura Laker, alongside the University of Westminster’s Active Travel Academy with contributions from other professionals. To read the full guidelines visit the official guidelines page.

The response

Unsurprisingly, the response to these guidelines was very positive. Enforcing guidelines that will positively affect reporting in the media and protecting individuals involved in road traffic accidents.

RoSPA’s response to the guidelines claims that they partially agree with the principles of the guidelines.

“We agree that publishers should avoid representing collisions as an inevitable event that could be prevented”

“90% of crashes will involve the element of human error”

To read the full response visit the official RoSPA’s response page.

The public consultation guidelines received almost 200 responses from the public, road safety organisations, media, legal and policing professions, with 72% agreeing with guidelines principles and a further 21% supporting its aims.

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