You have to be careful using the word "accident" with vehicle collisions. There are several meanings to the word, see below. One meaning of "accident" is an unplanned event; well, all collisions are unplanned, right? Another meaning attaches the concept of negligence, which is the key. Was the driver negligent or not? Was there anything he/she could reasonably have done that would have prevented the event? The word "reasonable" is the key. Is it reasonable not to drive on a certain bad weather day and take mass transit? Is it reasonable to slow WAY down to lower the risk of a collision? My suspicion is there is a vast range of what is considered reasonable behavior for driving in response to various conditions. Given the ambiguities of the word, I'd rather just outlaw the use of "accident" to describe any vehicle collision. Call it an "incident" and then discuss negligence and the circumstances and the reasonableness of the behavior.



http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/accident