Inclement weather can strike Columbus, Ohio at different times of the year. While wintertime snow can certainly cause inclement weather car accidents, snow is not the only reason for poor road conditions. Of course, other wintry weather, like ice and sleet, can also be responsible for a wintertime collision.
Inclement weather and poor driving conditions can happen in warmer weather, too. For example, dense fog might make it difficult to see on a highway, or a torrential thunderstorm might make the road slick and could make it impossible to spot vehicles ahead of you or to estimate their speed.
If you were injured in a car crash that happened during inclement weather, you might think that the weather was the only cause of the collision. However, if another driver was traveling too fast for the conditions—even if that driver was not speeding—that motorist could still be liable.
Drivers Have a Duty to Other Drivers on Ohio Roads
Whenever you get behind the wheel of your car or truck, you owe a duty of care to other motorists on the road. By turning on your car and getting on the road, you are agreeing to use reasonable care, and to behave as a reasonable driver would under the circumstances.
As such, when a motorist does not do what a reasonable driver would do under the given circumstances, that motorist may be liable for any accidents or injuries that occur as a result of her negligence.
Inclement weather accidents are one scenario in which injured parties need to know that another driver may be at fault and thereby financially responsible for resulting injuries. For example, if you are driving on I-70 and a heavy rain begins to fall, you may have some difficulty seeing any vehicles in front of you or behind you.
Even though the posted speed limit is 70 miles per hour, you have slowed down significantly because there is extremely poor visibility as a result of the rain.
Another car coming up behind you does not see your car and cannot immediately stop, so that car swerves into the lane next to you to avoid a collision. You are startled, and you end up running off the road. Let’s say the other driver was traveling at a speed of 68 miles per hour.
That driver might argue that the accident occurred as a result of the inclement weather, but in fact, the accident likely would not have happened but for that motorist’s decision to drive at an unsafe speed under the poor conditions.
In all likelihood, a reasonable driver would not travel at 68 miles per hour in such conditions even if the posted speed limit is 70 miles per hour. Accordingly, a driver who does travel at the high speed in torrential rain may be responsible for injuries in a collision.
Contact Me to Learn More About Filing a Claim
Were you injured in a crash that happened in poor driving conditions or inclement weather? Do you have reason to believe another driver was negligent and caused the collision despite the weather? I’ll Make Them Pay!® Call me at 877.614.9524 today.
