“It is No Accident that this is Called an Accident”— Vehicular Negligence

391 Pages·2014·1.47 MB·English

“It is No Accident that this is Called an Accident”—
Vehicular Negligence: A Socio-legal Study of Crime, Law, and Public Safety

by

Varinder K. Badh

A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Social and Applied Sciences
in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of

DOCTOR OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Royal Roads University
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Supervisor: Dr. Bernard Schissel

April 2014

Varinder Badh, 2014

COMMITTEE APPROVAL

The members of Varinder Badh’s Dissertation Committee certify that they have read the
dissertation titled It is No Accident that this is called an Accident – Vehicular Negligence: A
Socio-legal study of Crime, Law and Public Safety and recommend that it be accepted as
fulfilling the dissertation requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Social Sciences:

Dr. Ian Pike [signature on file]
Mr. Wally Oppal [signature on file]
Mr. Stephen Martin [signature on file]

Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s
submission of the final copy of the dissertation to Royal Roads University. The dissertation
supervisor confirms that he has read this dissertation prepared under his direction and
recommends that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirements:

Dr. Bernard Schissel [signature on file]

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Author Statement

This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an
advanced degree at Royal Roads University and is deposited in the University Library to be
made available to borrowers under rules of the Library.

Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided
that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation
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SIGNED: Varinder Badh
“It is No Accident that this is Called an Accident”—
Vehicular Negligence: A Socio-legal Study of Crime, Law, and Public Safety
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ABSTRACT
Criminality takes many forms; a homicide may be defined as criminal activity, as would identity
theft—both acts are criminal, yet the responses garnered are quite different. What makes the
response for these two acts different? Perhaps societal reaction and tolerance towards these
behaviours. Why is it that popular socio-legal discourse takes the position that societal reaction is
the result of the information it receives? The focus of my research was to determine whether
language affects perception and whether this impacts police and judicial practice. The focus was
on the discourse of legal and popular language used to describe motor vehicle incidents that
encompass a criminal component of injury and or fatality. I examined the impact of terminology
on public and legal perception, as well as societal reactions and tolerance, which were the
underlying issues of examination. However, in order to understand reaction and tolerance, I
found it important to study the factors that contributed towards public and legal perception. The
method of analysis was to examine the terminology used to depict and deliver the news of such
incidents. For the purposes of this investigation vehicular negligence is defined as any act or
behaviour that contravenes the British Columbia Motor Vehicle Act or is a Criminal Code of
Canada offence related to the operation of a motor vehicle. Under the law, a negligent act does
not require mens rea, which literally means to have a guilty mind. Therefore, in order to be
considered guilty, a person does not necessarily need to have the mental culpability of
forecasting or have the intention of inflicting harm.
I restricted my area of focus to the region of British Columbia for two primary reasons.
First, British Columbia has a higher than average injury and fatality rate resulting from motor
“It is No Accident that this is Called an Accident”—
Vehicular Negligence: A Socio-legal Study of Crime, Law, and Public Safety
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vehicle incidents when compared to other provinces in Canada. Second, the area of focus was
limited to this province as the result of my direct personal experiences in this provincial context.
The parameters of my case study, as indicated above, included only those incidents of vehicular
negligence that resulted in bodily injury and or fatality. The form of negligence assessed was not
restricted to a specific type of act; rather it included any act that would be considered negligent
behaviour on the roads, including but not limited to, driving in excess of the posted speed limit,
impaired driving, carelessness, hit and runs, and so forth. My interest was to examine the ways in
which these acts are perceived and addressed in public (media) and legal (court) discourse.
Focusing on five randomly selected cases involving vehicular negligence, thematic analysis of
face-to-face interviews, discourse analysis, and autoethnography were the primary
methodologies used for the investigation.
At present, there is no shortage of literature examining the cause and effect of specific
behaviours in relation to motor vehicle incidents. The shortcoming, however, is that the focus of
the literature is primarily centred on the consequences of drunk driving as it relates to the
mismanagement of vehicles and the subsequent legal and civil litigations. Some of the literature
also addresses social and health costs related to the severity of vehicle negligent incidents.
However, there is a dearth of research examining the role of public and legal perceptions as they
pertain to vehicular negligence and the impacts on the way in which vehicular negligent
incidents are addressed within the courts.
The results of this research indicated that terminology does in fact have an impact on
perception, and thus negligent incidents on the roads should be referred using terms that are
“It is No Accident that this is Called an Accident”—
Vehicular Negligence: A Socio-legal Study of Crime, Law, and Public Safety
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accurate descriptions. Terms such as accidents construe an incorrect understanding of the
implications from these types of acts that are a leading health and safety epidemic globally.
“It is No Accident that this is Called an Accident”—
Vehicular Negligence: A Socio-legal Study of Crime, Law, and Public Safety
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DEDICATION
This research is dedicated to the memory of my loving parents who were always a great
source of strength and who, in spite of my own insecurities, always encouraged me to reach for
the stars. My parents’ unfaltering belief, support, encouragement, and unconditional love were a
great source of fuel and motivation for me then, and even more so now, when they are no longer
in this physical world. One thing they both taught me was that I cannot control what happens in
life, but I can control my reactions. It is with these words of wisdom that I embarked on this
research. This work is a testament to my parents’ legacy and their sacrifices, which gave me
opportunities to excel above and beyond. My parents’ loving and lasting memory will forever
remain in my heart.
To my husband, soul mate, and best friend, Deep, thank you for enduring this long and
meandering journey with me. You never stop short of encouragement and are always there to
provide a listening ear, and offer support, and suggestions. You provide a loving and peaceful
environment where I could focus on this research. Thank you for keeping me grounded and sane.
I am forever indebted to you for your never-ending kindness, support, and unfailing love. I love
you to the moon and back a million times over. To my baby Binnae, I love you more than you’ll
ever know. I hope this work and my journey inspires you to reach for the stars.
Last but not the least, I dedicate this thesis to all the victims and survivors of road crashes
for whom I argue this research has provided a voice. It is my fervent hope that this research will
help deliver profound public policy change so that our roads can be a little safer for us all and
our loved ones.