Bad weather a constant issue for drivers

 

Bad weather creates the conditions for traffic accidents -- it’s not the cause of accidents. They can be common and deadly when weather becomes severe:

 

  • Nine people were killed in vehicle accidents in Iowa during a snowstorm in February, reported the Des Moines Register. In one of the crashes during the storm, two sisters, ages 13 and 17,  were killed and four other teenagers were injured.
  • A semi-truck travelling at a high rate of speed on a rain-covered interstate in San Angelo, Texas, this month flipped over, injuring the driver, according to KLST.
  • In May, thick fog on I-15 in Hesperia, in southern California, resulted in visibility going down to less than a quarter of a mile. A pile-up of several vehicles occurred, injuring 15 to 25 people, reports Weather Nation.

 

Weather can reduce visibility, affect driver performance and vehicle performance (by reducing vehicle traction, stability and maneuverability), increase crash risk and back up traffic, according to the federal Department of Transportation. The agency states that during an average year . . .

 

  • There are more than 5,748,000 vehicle crashes.
  • About 22% of them (nearly 1,259,000) happen during adverse weather or on slick roadways.
  • Nearly 6,000 people are killed and more than 445,000 people are injured in weather-related vehicle accidents annually.

 

Statistics show that rain is the greatest issue when it comes to accidents impacted by weather. It’s a contributing factor to 52% of weather-related injuries and 47% of weather-related deaths.

 

Weather doesn’t cause accidents, drivers do.

 

Just because the weather was bad when an accident happened, that doesn’t mean it’s to blame. Weather sets the scene for accidents. It’s not the cause.

 

Negligence is a legal theory used by those injured in vehicle accidents. Though negligence law varies from state to state, it generally requires the plaintiff (the person filing the lawsuit) to prove that it’s more likely than not that ...

 

  • The defendant (the person being sued) owed a legal duty or obligation to the plaintiff (such as to drive in a reasonably safe manner and not endanger others),
  • The defendant breached that duty or failed to live up to it,
  • That breach is the factual and legal cause of the vehicle accident,
  • It caused the plaintiff’s injuries, and
  • The defendant is legally obligated to pay the plaintiff the damages (a way to measure the harm done in dollars) under state law.

 

If the vehicle driven by Joe, travelling on a highway while it’s snowing, loses traction, spins out and strikes a vehicle driven by James, Joe may have been negligent if one of the following was true:

 

  • The tires on his vehicle were too worn to be safely driven (especially if there’s bad traction due to snow)
  • Joe was driving too fast for conditions. By the time he realized he was going to strike James’s car it was too late, and there wasn’t enough distance or time to slow down or stop and avoid the accident. If he had been driving slower, Joe would have maintained better control of his car, been farther away from James’s car and avoided the accident.
  • Joe hadn’t changed his wiper blades in more than a year, making a poor visibility situation even worse because the wipers just smeared water and snow across the windshield instead of clearing it. Joe couldn’t properly judge the distance between him and the other vehicles because he couldn’t see them well.

 

The issue isn’t just Joe’s driving, but also how unprepared his vehicle was for poor weather conditions. Joe breached his legal duty to drive reasonably in a safe vehicle so he won’t pose a danger to others on the road.

 

Multi-vehicle accidents are common at intersections and highways in bad weather. You could be driving reasonably in a safe vehicle and be struck by one vehicle that pushes you into a third. In this situation you shouldn’t be found liable for the accident because you weren’t driving negligently.

 

When weather turns bad, being safe is more important than being on time.

 

The worse the weather, the slower and more careful drivers have to be and the better shape their vehicle needs to be in. Speed limits are meant for daylight, in perfect weather conditions. When the weather turns severe, you may need to substantially slow down to maintain control of your vehicle. If the weather is bad enough, a reasonable driver will get off the road and stop driving. It’s better to get to your destination late than not get there at all.