Is "accident-prone area" correct and current in American English when it is intended to refer to an area where many road accidents occur? If not, what's the right way to express the idea?
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Yes, we can use "accident-prone" to refer to an area where many accidents happen, as well as to a person who experiences many accidents.– FumbleFingersCommented Jul 27, 2021 at 14:57
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Are you sure it's not Indian English?– ApollyonCommented Jul 27, 2021 at 15:17
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@Apollyon From what I can see, the phrase is more idiomatic in Indian and Filipino English, but that doesn't make it wrong in American English. The meaning of the phrase is still perfectly understandable from its individual words.– stangdonCommented Jul 27, 2021 at 15:44
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By the way, this might also be a good question for engineering.stackexchange.com, because there might be a specific civil engineering or highway engineering term for it.– stangdonCommented Jul 27, 2021 at 15:45
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1There's no doubt that accident blackspot is far more common in the UK than in the US. But I don't know of any other term that might be used more often in America. The UK Department of Transport has a formal definition of the designation (so many accidents in so many years) - but as I understand it, the principle of "regression to the mean" causes accident blackspots to "disappear" without official intervention anyway. And for reasons I don't quite understand, official intervention (warning signs, etc.) may actually make things worse.– FumbleFingersCommented Jul 27, 2021 at 16:23
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2 Answers
"Accident prone area" is understandable, but I feel it is more Indian than American English.
The expression Accident blackspot is the term I am more familiar with, however this appears to be Commonwealth English. "High-accident location(p.7)" is a possible term to use, Or less formally: "dangerous stretch of road" or a "hazardous intersection".
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1For what it's worth, I have never heard "accident blackspot" in the US. It might be more common in Commonwealth countries.– stangdonCommented Jul 27, 2021 at 15:14
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@Apollyon Probably high-accident location for example, google.com/books/edition/…– stangdonCommented Jul 27, 2021 at 15:27
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2In the UK, 'black spot' (two words) is perhaps more common. "Two drivers have escaped injury after their vehicles collided at a notorious accident black spot in Glenrothes on Monday". Not just roads; mountain regions have them too. "Accident Black Spots – Wasdale Mountain Rescue - The Wasdale and Eskdale valleys hold a number of areas where the team regularly has to attend incidents". The Guardian managed to have 'blackspot signs' in a headline and 'black spots' in the story underneath. Commented Jul 27, 2021 at 15:42
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In American usage I think we'd be more likely to talk about a "dangerous stretch of road" or a "hazardous intersection" or something, rather than use the more general "area". Unless for some reason there are more accidents occurring in an area but not specific to a particular road/intersection/highway junction/etc. Commented Jul 27, 2021 at 16:11
While "accident-prone" is usually used to refer to people, using it in this way seems natural enough that most, if not virtually all, native speakers would know exactly what you mean and only a pedant might argue with that usage
