Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country?
by TheOtherHobbes on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @07:53AM
(#27892628)
It's an accident if no one planned it and willed it deliberately.
But accident is a civil term, not a legal term. Legally there's a spectrum of culpability from driver innocence (the brakes failed, the lights failed, a bob cat fell on the windshield) to premeditated murder, with negligence and recklessness in between.
There may still be legal responsibility elsewhere. Did the brakes fail because the garage made a mistake?
Of course you can have an accident because you were reckless. That doesn't mean you wanted to kill someone. It means you were taking avoidable and unnecessary risks and didn't get away with it.
It's a result of negligence, impairment of intellectual functioning, or a number of things other than an accident.
The word crash covers such an incident far, far better. (Edit: Collision works as well, having read nearby comments).
For proof, watch any recent Dashcam Owners Australia monthly compilation. Most of these are not accidents.