Now you're talking.
As in aircraft accidents ..
there are 'factors' ..all of which add up to a mishap in the end.
Usually a clearly identifiable chain of minor events all adding up.

On 2/1/2013 10:38 AM, Zeitgeist wrote:
> 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
>