An accident, also known as an unintentional injury, is an undesirable, incidental, and unplanned event that could have been prevented had circumstances leading up to the accident been recognized, and acted upon, prior to its occurrence. Most scientists who study unintentional injury avoid using the term "accident" and focus on factors that increase risk of severe injury and that reduce injury incidence and severity.
Accidents will occur in the best regulated families.
Charles Dickens, David Copperfield (1849-1850), Chapter XXVIII; Pickwick Papers (1836), Chapter II; Walter Scott, Peveril of the Peak, Last Chapter; V. S. Lean, Collectanæ, Volume III, p. 411.