blame someone for the accident

Meaning

This phrase is used when you hold a specific person responsible for a collision, crash, or unfortunate mishap. It implies pointing fingers or assigning fault rather than looking at external factors. It is commonly used in insurance discussions, police reports, and everyday arguments.

Examples

• The insurance company is trying to blame me for the accident, even though he ran the red light.

  The insurance company is trying to blame me for the accident, even though he ran the red light.

• It's not fair to blame him for the accident when the roads were covered in black ice.

  It's not fair to blame him for the accident when the roads were covered in black ice.

• Instead of blaming each other for the accident, they should have exchanged details and called the police.

  Instead of blaming each other for the accident, they should have exchanged details and called the police.

• She felt terrible because everyone blamed her for the accident at the intersection.

  She felt terrible because everyone blamed her for the accident at the intersection.

• The police report didn't blame anyone for the accident, stating it was a pure mechanical failure.

  The police report didn't blame anyone for the accident, stating it was a pure mechanical failure.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ They blamed him of the accident.

  ✓ They blamed him for the accident.

  The verb 'blame' takes the preposition 'for' when specifying the cause, not 'of' (which is used with 'accuse').

• ✗ He blamed the accident to me.

  ✓ He blamed the accident on me.

  You can blame someone 'for' an event, or blame an event 'on' someone. You cannot blame something 'to' someone.

Related Expressions

Practice

• The police decided not to ___ because of the heavy fog.

  💡 Hold anyone responsible for the crash.

  Show answer

  blame anyone for the accident

• It is unfair to ___ when the brakes suddenly failed.

  💡 Point the finger at her for the mishap.

  Show answer

  blame her for the accident