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Am I at Fault for a Car Accident on a Slippery Road?

car accident car accident lawyersWhen driving in snowy weather, you may love the outside view and feel cozy inside the vehicle, but the piling up snow or water can on your path prove outright dangerous for you and your family. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, bad weather and wet, slippery road conditions are responsible for half a million crashes and 2000 fatalities in the US every winter.

So what happens when you face a car accident on a slippery road? Are you at fault if your vehicle collides with another? Let’s find out:

Are You Liable in a Bad-Weather Accident?

It’s important to understand here that as a driver, it’s your responsibility to stay aware of the weather conditions and adapt your driving behavior to it. When driving in bad weather, you should anticipate challenges like flooded sections on a roadway, reduced visibility, and slick pavement. Hence, you should not just drive slower than usual but also maintain a greater distance between the vehicle and other cars. Apart from maintaining control, you must take all reasonable measures to avoid collisions.

In case your road accident occurred near your home, you must have been aware of the poor weather conditions, and thus, sections of the roads should be prone to standing water. Ignoring everything, you chose to drive fast and tailgate a vehicle in front of you. You’re certainly at fault for the collision, as it clearly indicates that you were negligent in adapting your driving to the weather.

If, however, you did everything in your power to avoid an accident, you have all the rights to argue that you were not at fault or even that the other driver was negligible. This can be true if that car’s taillights had burned out, its driver switched the lane without prior indication or another type of negligence on their part.

However, proving your point in weather-related accidents is not as easy as it sounds. Investigators will not just take your word into account, but they will also consider the stance of the opposing party as well as interview other people, evaluate the traffic congestion at the time, closely assess the road conditions and the vehicles involved in a collision, and even the black box data from cars before reaching a verdict.

Personal Injury Attorney

Hence, you need strong legal representation to succeed in a car accident case associated with bad weather. While there are many car accident lawyers out there, no one beats Robert T. Edens. Whether you faced the collision in Chicago, Waukegan, Libertyville, Woodstock, or Antioch, IL, Robert Edens is ready to help you out.

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Dealing with Construction Zone Auto Accidents

Orange cones aligned in a particular order, several warning signs spread across the area, and workers in bright vests is the typical scene of a construction zone. All these precautionary measures are for alerting the incoming traffic about the construction work taking place up ahead in order to reduce confusion and the probability of accidents. However, even with so many preemptive strategies, many car accidents still happen in road construction zones. This may be because of the reduced number of lanes, presence of workers and machinery on the road, changes in speed and traffic flow, and traffic jams, which can create a risky situation for both drivers and workers.

Statistical Data on Construction Zone Accidents

Construction zones create additional road hazards that often lead to a greater frequency of collisions and accidents. Each year, thousands of vehicles accidents and crashes take place due to construction zones. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, in 2013, more than 67,000 crashes occurred in construction zones across the US. It has also been observed that the number of crashes increase when larger zones are under maintenance or being repaired. Moreover, bad weather conditions increase these crash statistics tenfold.

The Causes of Construction Zone Accidents

Whenever a road is in a poor condition, it requires fixing in order to mitigate higher risks of large scale calamities. Regular maintenance and construction work keeps the roads safe for traffic, but over the years, such construction zones have proven to be as dangerous as a bad road. There are several reasons why accidents occur in construction zones, including:

  • Debris of the construction materials poses a great threat as they litter the roadway and make road conditions risky for both workers and drivers.
  • Sometimes, there is a warning sign or cones missing due to which drivers don’t know how to safely navigate through the construction zone.
  • Poor lighting during the nighttime and misplaced barrels can make driving through the worker zone difficult.
  • Equipment and machinery are also hazards that can potentially become the cause of accidents.
  • During construction, the number of lanes is decreased, which leads to slower traffic. Some drivers fail to notice this and don’t properly adapt to the change, which results in accidents.
  • Speeding, distracted driving, impaired driving, and failing to observe warning signs are some other reasons for construction zone accidents.

What to do if you were in a Construction Zone Accident?

You may have taken all the necessary precautions to drive through the construction zone safely, and may still have met an accident. So what can you do in such a situation? You may not be completely sure whether it was your or the other driver’s fault, or the accident happened because of the unsafe conditions of the construction zone. In such a case, you should consult an experienced and reliable personal injury attorney, as you may have a case and a chance to get compensated for your pain and suffering.

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For evaluating your case and the possibilities for your personal injury claim, contact the Law Offices of Robert T. Edens, P.C. at (847) 395-2200 or online today to schedule your initial consultation with our firm.