Media Framing of Fatal Bicycle Crashes in Hillsborough County: A Critical Discourse Analysis

Bond, Julie M; Scheffels, Erin; Monteagut, Lorraine · 2018 · ROSA P / University of South Florida. Center for Urban Transportation Research

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Summary

This study investigates how media framing influences public perception of fatal bicycle crashes in Hillsborough County, Florida, through a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). Motivated by the region’s disproportionately high rate of bicyclist fatalities and the growing recognition that language shapes policy and social identity, the research examines the linguistic choices in news reports to understand how they construct meaning, assign responsibility, and reinforce power structures. The authors argue that standard reporting often obscures systemic issues by focusing on individual incidents, thereby influencing public opinion and hindering effective transportation safety interventions. The researchers collected textual data from news reports covering 94 bicyclist fatalities in Hillsborough County between January 2009 and June 2018. Using qualitative coding software, they analyzed the vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structures of these reports. The analysis employed Norman Fairclough’s CDA framework to identify patterns in how social actors—specifically bicyclists and motorists—are represented. The study focuses on episodic framing, which treats crashes as isolated events, and examines how linguistic features such as active versus passive voice, the attribution of agency, and the omission of contextual factors shape the narrative of these tragedies. The findings reveal that news reports consistently frame bicyclists as the primary agents of their own deaths, often attributing fault to individual choices such as clothing or behavior, while omitting the motorist’s agency or describing the vehicle as an inanimate object. This linguistic pattern naturalizes the crashes as inevitable outcomes of bicyclist activity rather than systemic failures. The reports frequently employ episodic framing, which invokes individual responsibility rather than thematic framing that would highlight broader structural issues like infrastructure design or policy. Consequently, the discourse reinforces a "common sense" lexicon that legitimizes existing power structures, positioning bicyclists as stigmatized or abnormal road users and absolving motorists and institutional actors of responsibility. The significance of this research lies in its demonstration of how language practices in media sustain unequal power relationships and hinder progress in transportation safety. By revealing the "hidden power" of news discourse, the study suggests that current reporting practices discourage necessary public debate on countermeasures such as Complete Streets initiatives. The authors conclude that altering these linguistic patterns is essential for shifting public perception, fostering a blame-free dialogue on road safety, and ultimately reducing bicyclist fatalities. This interdisciplinary approach contributes to transportation literature by highlighting the role of discourse in shaping urban landscapes and social identities, urging a reevaluation of how fatal crashes are reported to better support vulnerable road users.

Key finding

News reports of fatal bicycle crashes in Hillsborough County predominantly utilize episodic framing and linguistic structures that obscure motorist agency while attributing responsibility to bicyclists.

Methodology

dataset

Sample size: 94

Provenance

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Topics

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• cyclist safety