ABSTRACT
Motor vehicle accidents are the result of driver, roadway, or vehicular factors, or some combination of these variables. This chapter focuses on some of the more important studies in the fields of accident analysis and criminology. It describes the concept of accident proneness, its development, and proposed explanations. The chapter explores the relation between accident proneness and crime by defining each as deviance, with the same correlates, age structures, and relatively stable manifestations. A general theory of accidents begins with the assumption that human behavior is motivated by the pursuit of pleasure. Accidents are not widely regarded as pleasurable. But neither are criminal arrests nor social stigmatization. Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death in sixteen to twenty-four age groups, accounting for more fatalities than all other causes of death combined. The research on motor vehicle accidents fits reasonably well with the general theory of self-control, including the concepts of versatility and stability, and decline with increasing age.
