I think the operative word which should be used in these instances is
"contributed".  The conditions contributed to the outcomes detailed, though
they did not cause them.

On Fri, Feb 1, 2013 at 10:30 AM, Jim Felder <jim.felder@gmail.com> wrote:

> How many times a year do we read or hear something like this:
>
> "Icy conditions caused a 17-car pileup along interstate XX"
>
> compared to something like this:
>
> "bad driving and poor judgement caused a 17-car pileup along interstate
> XX."
>
> Now, if a tree falls on a driver or something like that, I can see blaming
> that on the weather.
>
> But a pileup?
>
> Jim
>

--
Casey