Read it. Pay attention.

[James Deuce]

I'm afraid I've got problems with most of that.

An accident is an inadvertent incident, nobody plans them. It’s patent nonsense to say there’s no such thing. You might mean that all accidents are preventable, (yet another modern safety industry slogan) but that’s also nonsense.

I’ll let the rest slide, my ice is melting. Can we agree that most unfortunate incidences are really really regrettable and leave it at that?

I don't quite understand that response. I've never had an accident and I've always contributed to whatever incident I've had. It is NOT an accident when someone falls asleep at the wheel, it is not an accident when someone crosses the centre line, it is not an accident when a drunk driver does what drunk drivers do, it is not an accident when someone runs a red light, it is not an accident when someone reverses over a child.

They're not accidents. I never said accidents were preventable.

My riff is that people fuck up and then try to assuage guilt or shame by labelling them as something inoffensive, like an "accident". They happen because people don't give enough of a shit to make sure they don't happen.

Negligent incompetence is not an accident.

If I wear lace up boots on a bike and fall off at the lights because the lace is looped around the kick start, that's me being a stupid mouth breathing loser, not an accident.

If I run a red and get killed by a bus, that's me being a selfish arsehole putting my needs ahead of a sensible traffic flow restriction designed to stop me being run over by a bus or running into someone else, not an accident.

Livestock on the road? Incompetent farmer, not an accident. Hitting the stock on the road? Incompetent rider for not managing the risk. It's not an accident. If the sheep was dropped from 30,000 feet by a passing UFO, that's an accident.

Losing control on a bend? The car/bike didn't do it.

They aren't regrettable incidents. They're people fucking up.

[Voltaire]

Sadly lately it seems after causing carnage they just walk away.Mind you we live in a country that sees fit to lower the driving age,give licences to people that cant speak English let alone read it, then theres the gaps between any meaningful tests for elderly drivers.

I drove/rode in Europe for ages and didn't speak or read a word or European.....are they really lowering the driving age below 15....

[Berries]

I did wonder how not speaking English made you a bad driver. Semble comme la merde à moi

[LBD]

Well it wasnt eh,Tropical downpour etc (never been in one but if there as bad as they sound)and you took a chance which didnt come off,not having a crack fella but hardly an accident.

beg to differ...yes I was responsible and liable, no question and maybe if I paused longer or maybe if I looked harder or maybe if the other car had its lights on or was a different colour....but there was no deliberate intent to crash....there was a deliberate attempt not to crash by stopping looking and checking.

The Oxford defination of accident... "something that happens unexpectedly and is not planned in advance"

[scumdog]

. It is NOT an accident when someone falls asleep at the wheel, it is not an accident when someone crosses the centre line, it is not an accident when a drunk driver does what drunk drivers do, it is not an accident when someone runs a red light, it is not an accident when someone reverses over a child.

They're not accidents. I never said accidents were preventable.

My riff is that people fuck up and then try to assuage guilt or shame by labelling them as something inoffensive, like an "accident". They happen because people don't give enough of a shit to make sure they don't happen.

Negligent incompetence is not an accident.

They aren't regrettable incidents. They're people fucking up.

What he said - VERY few crashes are actually true accidents - almost all are the result of one or more people screwing-up, - even if they didn't intend or plan to.

[riffer]

bThe Oxford defination of accident... "something that happens unexpectedly and is not planned in advance"

You're still not getting it. If there's NOTHING you did to contribute to the incident, and there's NOTHING anyone else did to contribute to the incident, then you might have a point.

But I bet in every road incident, there's something SOMEONE did that contributed. Therefore its not an accident.

Jim - you're right.

[vifferman]

I've had my share of crashes, and even though almost all of those that involved another person were (from a legal and insurance perspective) the other person's fault, in every case I knew there was something I could have done to prevent it. I think when you just lay the blame squarley at the other person't feet, you have learned NOTHING from it, so you run the risk of repeating any mistakes you've made.
But then some people are like that - all the mistakes they make in life are followed by excuses, finger-pointing and blame-shifting.

[MSTRS:Me]

The Oxford definition of accident... "something that happens unexpectedly and is not planned in advance"

Hmmmm. MY definition differs slightly...in that an accident is "something that happens unexpectedly, could not have been foreseen or planned for, and could not have been prevented".
In your Cairns example, for you it was almost an accident. For the driver that hit you, it was a crash.

[NodMan:Me]

Respect to that dude, I spent 20 years doing a similar job and can really relate to his words. There is far to much tragedy and bad driving on our roads.

My thoughts too! Stu gave so much!

I worked with Stu for 22 years and only now two years on do I realise how much the JOB changed our lives.I was a Naive motorcyclist with 15 years experience when I stopped being chased by the MOT/Police then went over to the dark side.

22 years and a million kms further down the road I had realised you can help some people but you cant help everybody! Doing next of kin notifications was always hard, but (as some of you know) when it comes to the next of kin of your best mate of 35 years it REALLY SUCKS, so I escaped to the republic up north, I still ride, but there is only one law up here....'ride to survive'

Ride safe everyone and treat every other road user as a nutter!

[jonbuoy]

Why do we have a word for "accident" if there is no such thing as an "accident". This is moving into dangerous liability, sue everyone for everything culture thats in the states and spreading through Europe. Neighbors kid trips over on a broken tile in your garden all of a sudden its not an "accident" its a blame game - somebodies fault that it happened. Child was poorly supervised or the garden wasn´t "safe". Accidents do happen, you can prevent all accidents - don´t get out of bed in the morning.

[MSTRS:Me]

... you can prevent all accidents - don´t get out of bed in the morning.

That's just asking for a different sort of accident...

[jonbuoy]

That's just asking for a different sort of accident...

Nappies and an understanding wife?

Driver in a 4 x 4 nudging you off the road - not an accident.
Failing to give way on a slip road - not an accident.

Hitting loose seal on a corner - preventable accident
Highsiding off a damp roundabout - preventable accident
Tree branch falling on you - unpreventable accident
Heart attack at the wheel - unpreventable accident
Catastrophic engine failure (freak event) - Unpreventable accident
Catastrophic engine failure (design flaw) - Preventable accident.
Late for work - speeding hitting pedestrian - preventable accident.

[StoneY]

If I'm still in another 25 years time someone shoot me.

Sure!
Happy to oblige bruv!

Merry Xmas Katman and everyone on KB have a safe holiday

I do wonder though, if there is no such things as accidents how the f%^$ did I end up running BRONZ Wellington?

[MSTRS:Me]

Remember the truck driveshaft that took out some poor innocent coming the other way?

Truck maintenance could have prevented it. Was that down to the truckie, or the company who owned the truck?

But the driver who was killed couldn't have done a thing.

Was that an accident or a crash/incident?
Where do you draw the line?

[Jiminy]

There should be a straight line highway down the length of the country.

And a WRB in the middle...