Accident

An accident is an unforeseen mishap, but the word is often used to describe a road traffic collision.

The word 'accident' implies that the collision was nobody's fault, just one of those things that couldn't be helped. Most crashes are in fact caused by driver carelessness, recklessness, speeding, distraction, etc.

It is suggested that 'collision' is used rather than 'accident' to describe road crashes.