Can you recover a claim for injuries that you sustain when bad weather conditions cause a car accident? We have all experienced bad weather conditions sometime or the other in our lives while driving our cars. Sometimes, the road conditions become treacherous for all motorists. Bad weather, particularly in winter, affects performance of our vehicles and visibility of the drivers gets impaired, resulting in accidents of a serious nature.
When such accidents are as a result of negligence or carelessness of another driver, the victims who suffer injuries would be able to recover. They can file personal injury lawsuits against the persons or parties who are responsible for their injuries. It is, however, a complicated issue when you have to prove negligence of a particular driver in case of a car accident in bad weather conditions; it is better to consult experienced personal injury lawyers after an accident.
What do you have to establish for an injury claim in bad weather conditions during a car accident?
When you have to hold someone responsible legally for any losses that have been caused by a car accident in bad weather conditions, it is essential that you establish that the driver was negligent of his or her responsibilities.
Can i claim compensation for a car accident due to bad weather?
It will depend on the situation if a other car has hit your car then you can claim compensation for personal injury if you are injured and also if your car in damaged. If your a passenger in either the car that was at fault or the other car you can still claim compensation if you are injured. If you have been in a car accident find out how much compensation can I claim for car accident claims then visit the link and get free advice before deciding what to do.
It is clear that a driver has to maintain control of the vehicle at all times while driving and failure would indicate negligence. Force majeure events such as extreme bad weather with falling debris or high winds may cause a car to lose control entirely, independent of a driver error. Many drivers and their insurance companies will deny negligence or responsibility in poor weather conditions; but, it is necessary to note that drivers are required to use the necessary level of care during the particular weather conditions that they are driving in. For example, maintaining or exceeding the speed limit slightly may be permissible in normal conditions but in a snow storm or heavy windy conditions, it may not be deemed proper or reasonable.
What are some of the ways in which drivers may cause an accident by negligence in bad weather conditions?
- Taking sharp turns
- Not concentrating on the road on account of fatigue
- Impaired driving
- Driving with worn tyres
- Driving a poorly maintained vehicle
- Distracted driving
- Failure to use proper headlights
- Failure to use the windshield wipers
Attorneys would be able to help the victim of an accident determine whether or not a claim could be made and against whom. Besides the car drivers, the vehicle manufacturers and the vehicle equipment manufacturers could also be held responsible if a defect in the design or the manufacture results in a car accident in poor weather conditions.
How do insurance companies judge driving faults during poor weather conditions?
The evaluation of claims by the insurance companies will depend on individual circumstances. We have to remember that liability for car accidents is purely based on negligence when you want to fully understand how the law could be applied to accidents that involve poor weather conditions. Weather is merely a factor for the jury and the insurer and it would be considered in establishing the negligence on part of any driver.
How is negligence defined and assessed?
Negligence while driving a car would involve not exercising reasonable care in a particular situation. It is also interpreted as an act that is not performed alike one that would be performed by any reasonable person. Alternatively, when a reasonable would not perform certain actions, then doing those actions would be considered negligent. Bad weather conditions are one of the factors that may become relevant to establishing whether a driver was negligent or not. Other factors that are taken into consideration are the speed that the driver was maintaining, the conditions of the road, visibility and whether the driver was intoxicated or distracted among various other things. In poor weather conditions, for example, when it is raining hard or there is a heavy snow storm, drivers have to adjust their driving reasonably and maintain safe distance from other vehicles. The insurers would be mainly concerned with this factor. The insurance adjuster would determine if the driver was driving reasonable as per the weather conditions that applied on the concerned day. When the adjuster decides that the insured was driving fast for the conditions, the payment will be made on a claim even if the defendant was well below the speed limit assigned for that road. This is because the crucial factor in poor weather claims is whether the drivers were driving reasonably well for those particular weather conditions.
An insurer may deny the liability claim if it was snowing heavily and the defendant was driving slowly and cautiously but still got involved in a crash. The insurer may fight on the grounds of absence of negligence. For compensation after a accident or injury visit the government website.
Other contributing factors such as condition of the tyres or the windshield wipers will force the insurers to settle claims if maintenance was not carried out by the driver. The same would apply if the driver was driving in an intoxicated state.