06-13-2018, 09:31 PM
(06-13-2018, 11:06 AM)panamaniac Wrote: Why are you assuming there's a difference? I could see a "crash" as being one form of an accident (a "fall' might be another), but I imagine many people would use the terms interchangeably, especially on something as casual as twitter.
It should only be an accident (or Motor Vehicle Collision (MVC)) if driver error was in no way a factor. For example, when Anton Yelchin (Chekov in Star Trek) died after being hit by a vehicle, it was an accident because apparently the car jumped out of park and ran into him, and apparently no user fault but rather mechanical failure. Sudden acceleration (only if not the fault of the driver) usually is an accident as well. A truck tips over due to high winds (and we'll assume these high winds weren't expected) might be an accident as well. A car, obeying the train signals, crosses the tracks and gets hit by a train, that is an accident too.
Otherwise, the proper term is "crash" and also a Motor Vehicle Collision. A crash is usually the fault of the driver, pedestrian or cyclist.
Example, someone runs across the road, especially at night, and gets run over. It's not an accident because no accident occurred. It's a MVC because a motorized vehicle hit a pedestrian who'd been illegally crossing the road and pedestrian error was to blame. Now had that car turns right or left at a set of lights, and ran over a pedestrian, it's still a MVC, but the motorist is at fault, and it's not an accident because driver error is to blame.
A car slams into another car during a blizzard, or dense fog -- this might be more tricky. Was it clear JUST BEFORE the MVC? If it was clear before, then it's an MVC 'accident', as this is a weather related event. If driver noticed fog or blizzard but carried on driving as usual, then it's a 'crash' because it's driver error.
Accidents are generally not preventable. Crashes always are (at least for the at fault driver, pedestrian, cyclist).