unavoidable accident
Unpreventable harmful occurrence
An unavoidable accident is one that couldn't have been prevented by reasonable care—an event caused by forces beyond human control.
The term appears in legal contexts to describe situations where no party bears fault: The court ruled it an unavoidable accident after the driver suffered a sudden heart attack.
Also called an inevitable accident.
- natural disasterCatastrophic environmental event
- force majeureExtraordinary event excusing performance
- act of GodUnforeseeable natural catastrophe
- unforeseen circumstancesUnplanned events affecting outcomes
- liabilityLegal or financial obligation
beyond control · civil liability · fate · inevitability · mechanical failure · human error · probability · tort · weather conditions · moral responsibility · environmental hazard · duty of care · legal defense · chain reaction · collision course · determinism · indemnity · free will
- legal defensesself-defense, alibi, affirmative defense, insanity defense, insanity
- tort defensesassumption of risk, sovereign immunity, statute of limitations, inherent risk, self-defense
unavoidable accidentnegligence
Failure to exercise care
gross negligence · recklessness · carelessness · malpractice · dereliction of duty
unavoidable accidentintentional harm
Deliberately caused damage
willful misconduct · mens rea · murder · assault · sabotage
unavoidable, accident, avoid, avoidable, avoidably, unavoidably, avoidance, avoiding, avoided