Wishing him a full and speedy recovery wrote:
the macdaddy og yoo wrote:
1) He intentionally and illegally drove into the incorrect lane and tried to intentionally and illegally pass three cars while going over a hill. Nothing accidental about it. Goes against everything we’re taught in driving school.
2) The actual definition of “accident” is “happening by chance, unintentionally, or unexpectedly.” Again, the drivers actions do not fit this definition.
Intentionally driving into the other lane to pass those cars doesn't mean Ferrari intentionally crashed into another vehicle. The intention was probably just to pass those cars. Dangerous? Yes. Foolish? Yes. Intentional crash? Doubtful. Therefore, it was an accident.
That said, what's more important: The health of all the people involved in the incident, along with the lesson that Ferrari hopefully learned about safe driving, or debating semantics?
You are proving my point. What is important is learning from this, which won't happen if we pretend it was a random "accident" and not a readily preventable crash.
The word "accident" is not synonymous with "unintentional". If I crash my car illegally speed racing down side streets, that would not be intentional but it is ridiculous to call that an accident, which implies that the event was unpredictable and unpreventable.
I have worked in injury prevention for many years (as an MD), and the use of the word "accident" in contexts like this has been widely discountenanced.
https://www.preventable.ca/media/Changing-the-Discourse-2019-FINAL-web.pdf