accident指偶然发生的不幸事件,即“事故”; 如:Captain Cook safely navigated his ship without accident for 100 voyages.
库克船长驾驶的船安全出航100次无事故。
incident则指普通的小事件,也指暴力性的政治事件。如:About ten people were killed in the car accident.在这次车祸中大约有10个人丧生。The book is about the July 7th Incident.这本书是关于七七事变的。