Talk:sortie de route

Tea room discussion
Just a sanity check that there is no more common terms for this fairly common French term than the rather technical run-off-roadway accident. It is NOT a roadside accident, which is much more broader in meaning (cf. a undefined: stops being one when barrel rolls begin). Circeus 15:26, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
 * I don't think there is a good word for this in English (I've actually never heard "run-off-roadway accident"). Normally in English you would word this differently, eg French J'ai fait une sortie de route  = English I came off the road.  Ƿidsiþ 15:48, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
 * As I said, the term is very technical (it's found primarily in e.g. road safety and pavement research). The OQLF gave "ram-off roadway accident", which lead to this term. It is a useful term to quantify different type of accidents, much like how CFIT might sound ridiculously euphemistic while remaining a relevant term to aviation specialists. You hear about undefined: a lot in Quebec during winter storms. Circeus 16:58, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
 * But sortie de route isn't technical (or at least, it's used a lot in common speech as well – 7.5 million g-hits, compared to fewer than 1500 for "run-off-roadway accident"). I would say it's best translated using some sort of periphrasis in English – we would say I came off the road or even my car came off the road rather than using a noun to describe the accident.  Ƿidsiþ 17:05, 2 January 2009 (UTC)