By Hon. (Ret.) Ken E. Adair 
Safety Is Never an Accident
Video Transcribed: In recent years, we’ve seen a campaign put out by an insurance company. I’m sure they’ve spent a couple of dollars putting this thing out, but they’re talking about mayhem. Mayhem is what happens when things just happen.
It’s like the old bumper sticker we used to see on the back of the cars that said, “Stuff happens,” only they didn’t use the word stuff, but blank happens. We’ve now had injected too into our pop culture, into the human consciousness, this concept of stuff happens or mayhem.
We don’t understand that we have a social contract. Every time we put the keys in our car, it’s a contract. We back out of our driveway, it’s a contract. We drive down the road, it’s a contract. What is the contract we all enter into with each other?
That contract is I’ll drive safely. I’ll be careful. I’ll keep a lookout. I won’t run stop signs or stoplights. I won’t change lanes into you if you don’t change lanes into me. The payoff is that we all get to where we’re going safely.
Remember, safety is no accident. Don’t call your car wreck cases or don’t call the other physical injuries accidents. They’re not accidents. Somebody made a conscious decision.
If you’re suing somebody, somebody made a conscious decision to do something or not do something or a combination of the two that violated the social contract.
You’ve got to overcome this idea now that’s been put, and I say a couple of dollars, probably a few hundred million dollars has been spent pumping this concept of mayhem, this adorable guy with… I think they even had Tina Fey on one of these ads and he just comes off as an endearing character.
What he’s doing is he’s trying to teach people through pop culture, through the social consciousness that’s being pummeled on them by the insurance company, that sometimes stuff happens. Safety isn’t always an accident.
Sometimes the absence of safety is an accident. No, safety is never an accident. Safety is always a conscious decision to do or not do something or a combination of the two.
Remember that talk about mayhem and stuff happening and not happening and that safety is no accident. Everybody agrees when you put it to them, right? Every juror, every prospective juror, will agree that safety is no accident.
You can find out, ask the question, do any of you believe that just stuff happens, that sometimes an unsafe condition is absolutely an accident, that nobody did anything wrong? Find out who the people are on your jury that you may not want to be on there.
Keep in mind about that concept, mayhem is the same thing as stuff happens or blank happens on the old bumper stickers of your car, and don’t let them get by with that. Don’t be afraid of it and hit it and I hope this video has been helpful. This is Trial Attorney, Ken Adair. Thank you very much. If You are looking for First and Second Chair Co-Counsel, Focus Groups & Mock Jury Trial Sociometrics, Jury Trial Preparation Services, visit trial-win.com
