Incidence means the frequency with which something bad occurs. You’ll hear of “incidences of cancer” or “incidences of war." You hope the incidence is decreasing, not increasing.
You might confuse incidence and incident. They sound similar, but incident refers only to something that happened, not to the frequency with which it happens. After a car accident, the police file an incident report, which is a fancy way of saying they write down what happened. Looking at these reports grouped together can show you if the incidence of accidents at specific intersections in town is on the rise.
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the relative frequency of occurrence of something
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the striking of a light beam on a surface
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