SafeSpeed wrote:
Yeah, but that definition doesn't give any value to the cause of the happening, nor whether it could be forseen. In fact I could bet the farm on a rank outsider, lose my bet and still call it an 'unfortunate happening'
The shorter Oxford English Dictionary has this:
An event that is without apparent cause or unexpected; an unfortunate event, esp. one causing injury or damage.
Which perfectly accurately covers 99.9% of road crashes. They are 'unfortunate events', causing injury or damage; and they are 'unexpected'; frequently they are also 'without apparent cause' at least for a while.
Whilst the dictionary doesn't say whether or not the happening could be forseen, someone who takes a 'risk' could not reasonably claim that a 'bad' result was an accident. I'm talking colloquial speak here.
I think that an 'accident' is an event that would evoke sympathy.
I don't think you'd get much sympathy when you lost your farm given that you knew the facts and decided to risk everything.
Are any 'crashes' ever finally defined as 'without apparent cause'?