accident vs. incident

accident vs. incident

"7:13 PM 09/08/05 Incident

Freewy 123 Northbound after YY RD

Accident: SOLO CAR CRASH, BLOCKING THE LEFT LANE "

1. What's the difference between a (traffic) incident and accident?

2. Can you call a car accident an incident?

3. Can you call an incident an accident?

4. Is it true that an accident is an incident but not vice versa?

Thanks,

"Incident" has an air of "police euphemism" over here. 

Station announcers use it too. Your train may be delayed "due to an incident at Clapham Junction". This usually means that someone has jumped in front of a train.

(More explicit announcers will say "due to a person under a train at Clapham Junction", as if the person just happened to be there.)

MrP

Fairly regularly. Suicides, mostly. If you've ever travelled on an English train, you'll understand why.

MrP

I happened to read a medical definition related to the use of accident.

incontinence - unexpected sudden leaking or wetting accidents.

So, does that sound odd to you if I call incontinence an incidence?

Probably someone needs to give more detailed distinctions between an accident and incident if it does.  

Thanks,

_________

4.  Yes.  I would say so, if you mean this in the sense that accidents are a subset of incidents.

CJ's comments.

Hi,

I understand the definition of an accident as something that happens outside of intent. However, I think a definition should also include the meaning of 'something that happens without an apparent cause'. 

In Canada, as elsewhere, we speak of traffic accidents.However, an interesting, alternative approach is proposed by some people here. They maintain that we should not speak of traffic accidents because there is usually or perhaps always a reason for the accident. The word 'accident' is seen as 'accepting the incident' as something that could not have been prevented.

Best wishes, Clive