When I started to work with the city, I realized that I was going to be working alongside our attorneys every single day. While I was a little nervous around them at first, we quickly became friends and all of that anxiety melted away. It was really neat to see how many different subjects they could handle, and I realized just how necessary they were for helping me to manage various daily occurrences. On this website, I thought it would be really great to start talking about how to work with lawyers, and what it might mean for you and your family if you seek legal advice early.
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Why a Driver May Be Liable for a Weather-Related Accident
Cassandra Stone
Just because weather appears to have been the cause of an auto accident, it doesn't mean that no driver shares the blame. In some cases, drivers are held at least partially liable for accidents that, at first glance, appear to be as a result of weather elements. Here are some of these cases.
The Weather Event Was Foreseeable
A true accident should be something foreseeable, something that the other driver cannot foresee and avoid. For example, if an unexpected earthquake causes two cars to collide, it is an accident because the drivers couldn't have foreseen the earthquake.
Contrast that with a case where a driver knows that a certain road is flooded, and there are alternative routes they can take. If the driver decides to take the flooded road and causes an accident, then the driver is likely to be on the hook (at least partially) for the crash. This is because the driver should have known about the dangers of driving on a flooded road.
The Driver Didn't Take Extra Caution
When driving in dangerous weather, every driver should go above and beyond the normal precautions taken by all drivers on the road. For example, it is not enough to drive below the speed limit if the roads are icy and slippery, you should slow down until your speeds are safe under the circumstances.
Thus, if someone drives in dangerous weather as they would in good weather, they may be on the hook for any ensuing accident. This might be the case even if the driver didn't actually break any law during the accident.
The Car Was Not Roadworthy
The government expects all motorists to maintain their cars and ensure the cars do not endanger other road users. For example, the brakes, steering wheel, lights, and any part of the car that is part of the safety and security system must be in good working conditions at all times.
In many cases, relatively minor damages that might not cause an accident in good weather can cause serious accidents in bad weather. For example, the braking distance increases on wet and slippery roads, so you need perfect brakes for such conditions. Thus, a driver who causes a weather-related accident with a defective vehicle may be held liable for the damages.
The Weather Event Was Just a Contributing Factor
Lastly, a driver can be on the hook for a weather-related accident if the weather was not the sole cause of the crash, but merely a contributing factor. Say a driver is distracted while driving in on a slippery road in foggy weather, and they end up drifting out of their lane and hitting a car in the adjacent lane. In this case, the weather is not the sole cause of the accident; the driver's distraction is partly to blame. Therefore, the driver still has to pay for the damages.
Therefore, if you are an auto accident victim, don't hold off from filing a claim because someone says that bad weather caused the accident. Consult an auto accident attorney to help you determine whether you can still hold someone liable for your damages.
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