18: Accident/Crash Causation and Analysis

According to the online American Heritage Dictionary an accident is “An unexpected and undesirable event, especially one resulting in damage or harm: (such as) car accidents on icy roads … an unforeseen incident … (involving) lack of intention; chance.” Similarly, the Oxford online dictionary defines an accident as “1. an unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally; 2. an incident that happens by chance or without apparent cause; 3. chance.”

If we were to accept these definitions, then the investigation of the causes of traffic accidents would be very short, very simple, and the same for all accidents, leading to one singular cause: chance. Fortunately, this is not the case. Traffic accidents are not accidents in the dictionary sense of the word. Most research in this area indicates that the causes of traffic crashes are not chance events, and therefore they can be investigated, identified, and – hopefully – provide us with insights on how to prevent future crashes.