TRAFFIC Report, Not Accident Report

As a listener, I want a TRAFFIC report, not an ACCIDENT report.

Telling me that "there's an accident at the Butler exit off I-12" is just an accident report.

A real traffic report, however, is telling me that if I'm headed that direction, I'm looking at an extra 20 minutes to get to work.

Avoid "traffic person" words and phrases. There isn't an "accident working." That phrase doesn't mean anything. Say there's "slow going 'cause the police are still on the scene" or something more casual-sounding.

And here's another term your listener hates: "lane blockage." That sounds like something I should be taking medication for. WHICH lane is blocked? Tell me NOW, so I can go on ahead and get over, and not be stuck in that lane for 15 minutes while people whiz around me.

Think of how it's USED in the listener's life. Just giving out information, with no practical application, has no real benefit. SERVICE elements (news, traffic, weather) have to actually BE OF SERVICE.

Otherwise, you might as well just open the mic and quack like a duck. (At least that would be different and entertaining.)