"Accident" covers a multitude of sins
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WHEN is an accident not an accident? Frequently, according to the Kent county police in an exercise in semantics that nevertheless provokes thought.
"In most circumstances, in any discussion about road casualty figures," they say, "the word 'accident' is a misnomer, implying that death, damage or serious injury on the road has been caused by chance. Perhaps it is a term that has been coined to absolve ourselves from our responsibilities to other members of society, the repudiation of a 'deliberate' action which has caused harm to another.
. "An action or lack of action which has brought about the 'accident' may not be 'deliberate' but will almost certainly be due to a lack of attention or skill on the part of a road user . ."
In the case of jay-walkers, for "accident" read "suicide."