Several hours of training in the police academy were dedicated to traffic accident investigation and report writing. Texas had a uniform traffic accident report that was required to be used by all Texas law enforcement officers (LEOs). For the most part, LEOs despised writing accident reports (I suppose they still do).
Many officers complained that we were just working for the insurance companies. In fact, in many jurisdictions across the country, officers don’t investigate traffic accidents unless someone is injured, or the incident involves criminal charges. When I worked patrol, we were dispatched for major and minor motor vehicle accidents—on public roadways and on private property. I investigated and wrote hundreds of accident reports. Some were one- or two-vehicle minor finder-benders, some were multi-vehicle pile ups, some were injury free, some involved fatalities.
Accident investigations were part of being a police officer, but in 2009, when I started working with the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, I needed to learn a new vocabulary. “There’s no such thing as an accident, someone is responsible,” I was told. Idaho LEOs called the mishaps—can I even use that term?—vehicle crashes, not accidents. It seems like only a minor variation, but there’s a big difference. In Texas, rarely did I write a citation at an accident I was investigating, but in Idaho I found it was rare when someone wasn’t cited at a crash investigation.
Beyond the legal implications of calling the unintentional collision a crash, as opposed to an accident, are the philosophical and theological implications. Is there really such a thing as an accident? Not, that the collision was intentional, but that it was preventable. Idaho police trainers say, “No; there’s no such thing as an accident, every vehicle crash could have been prevented.” I suppose, scientifically we’d have to agree. Newton said for every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction. No action, no reaction, cause and effect—that’s physics. Further, a LEO’s crash (or accident) report lists contributing factors (i.e., driving too fast for conditions, mechanical failure, distracted driving). Contributing factors are the cause(s) of the crash. So, logic dictates that crashes don’t happen without a cause—a cause that could have been prevented.
Retired Bonneville County Sheriff Office Lieutenant Gordon Boyle agrees. He opens his book with, “At one time I believed in chance and luck and in the concept of accidents. It seems reasonable. I now realize that there can be no such thing as an accident if God is really sovereign, and He is.” (It Is No Accident, 2024, xi). Gordon, also a retired Watersprings Church pastor and good friend, is convinced there is no such thing as an accident. He understands that although God can prevent people from being harmed and killed, he doesn’t always do so. In his auto-biographical book, Gordon tackles the question, “Why would a loving God allow death, cancer, abuse, sickness, and evil?” But rather than giving a cold, academic answer, he answers from both personal experience and a biblical perspective. Gordon takes you with him through his remarkable life journey where he faced uncertainty, tragedy, and death both on the job and in his personal life. From skydiving to scuba diving, from drug raids to murder investigations, you’ll find it hard to put down! It Is No Accident is available on Amazon.
Looking forward
Big plans. Last year we connected face-to-face with about 500 officers through seminars and various events. This year, our goal is to have at least 2,000 face-to-face connections. Beyond face-to-face connections is the impact made through other media. Other media includes our radio/podcast on THEREV.FM, books, articles, and guest interviews on other podcasts. Much of our 2025 schedule is now set, at least for the first half of the year.
We begin the year with a “Winning a Gunfight” seminar in Thornton, CO followed by a trip across country to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, GA where our son-in-law will be graduating as a US Forest Service Agent. Then we’ll be in the South for seminars in Arkansas and Louisiana.
Pray for your police.
