I am continually amazed at the widespread use of the passive voice when reporting on traffic violence. 'A woman hit by a driver' centers the woman - which may be appropriate in some cases. it also deflects attention away from the driver. 'A driver hit a woman' attributes agency.
@Henryz_mom A driver hit a teenager in a town south of Boston yesterday and seriously injured her and @BostonGlobe, once again, reporting it like the girl just went and got herself hit by a car. No mention of record of street she was on, or make and model of vehicle.
@Henryz_mom Even more unfortunate it feels like a victory that they even mention the driver as usually it is just a car or similar object.
@Henryz_mom I would go one step further and say a "person driving a car", so it includes who, the person, and the weapon, the car. I mostly bike, but also run and sometimes drive. So I am at times a biker, runner and driver, I am still the same person.
@Henryz_mom It's usually, "A woman was killed by a car," as if the killer driver was somehow not involved in the killing.
@Henryz_mom There's no difference in attributing agency between those to quotes.
@Henryz_mom Further deflected by "accident" vs "collision".
@Henryz_mom And when you call reporters and papers out for passive voice, they ignore you and use passive voice again in the next story. That is, if the deaths make the paper in the first place…