Tennessee Severe Weather Related Accidents

Tennessee does not get much snow compared to the northeast and other areas. So when the area does get any amount of snow and ice, people are not used to driving on it. This tends to produce many accidents.

Various storms and rain that can occur in Tennessee can also produce slick and difficult road conditions. It is important that a driver executes caution when operating a vehicle because of the risk of severe weather-related accidents in Tennessee.

Warning Signs The warning signs for severe weather-related accidents in Tennessee depend on the condition. Sometimes, storms come quickly so there are not a lot of warning signs. What often happens, since the storms are usually water related, are that people begin hydroplaning. An individual may find that their car feels loose, and this may cause a person to lose control.

Sometimes, even if an individual’s car is able to handle itself well in the weather, the poor visibility that may result from the severe weather may prevent someone from seeing the car in front of them, producing an accident.

Steps to Take After an Accident After a person makes sure them and everyone else in the car is alright after the severe weather-related accident, it is important to determine if the person involved in the accident was driving appropriately for the weather conditions.

For instance, even though a normal speed limit may be 40 miles per hour, if the person was driving 40 miles per hour but it was raining very hard, then they still may be at fault. It may turn into a question if that person should have been driving, and if they were experienced enough to drive on a roadway under these severe weather-related conditions in Tennessee.

Sometimes, an ice storm or a flood may come quickly. In these instances, it is no one’s fault as no one could have predicted such severe weather conditions. Although when these sorts of severe weather occur, it is important that an individual exercise extreme caution and adapt their driving to the state of conditions that they are driving in.

Impact on Liability If the accident is caused by nature and could not be realistically avoided, then there may be no fault in the accident and no one recovers.

If it is a single car accident and is weather related and nobody’s fault, there is probably not much a lawyer can do for that person. The individual would most likely file a claim on their own insurance to get their car repaired.

Recoverable Damages If a person can prove that the accident is not solely related to the weather and it was because a person has a defective vehicle or because someone else caused the accident, a person is going to be able to get the same economic and non-economic damages as a person would in any case. These include damages such as pain and suffering, medical bills past and future, lost wages, past and future damages, and property damage.

However, if the accident is related solely to the weather, then there is probably not going to be any damages that will be recoverable.

Gathering Evidence If the person involved in the accident has any photographs of the storm or the flood, that can be useful when building a claim. A person can also get weather data from the National Weather Service online and print that off to show what was going on in the area, what the temperature was, and whether there was any rainfall or flooding at the time of the accident.

Protection from the Weather If a person can avoid driving, then it is important that they do not drive during severe weather conditions in Tennessee. If they must drive, an individual should ensure that they have a car that can handle it.

If there is snowy weather, a person wants to either have chains, snow tires, or four-wheel drive. Further, a person wants to make sure that their lights are working correctly. If it is heavy rain, a person wants to make sure that they have good windshield wipers. No matter the weather, a person wants to make sure that their car is capable of driving in whatever condition.

Benefits of a Lawyer If the accident is solely due to poor weather conditions, then a lawyer probably cannot help their client. They must make a claim on their own insurance because nobody is at fault. A lawyer is most beneficial when someone is at fault in an accident, but sometimes there is not anyone there.

The only time a lawyer can help even though the accident may have been caused by severe weather conditions in Tennessee, and where there is no fault, is if a person’s car did not perform correctly. If the car was not crashworthy, which means if the airbag did not deploy or if that person’s air bag deployed and injured that person, or if a person’s windows shattered or seatbelt did not work, then an attorney may be able to help them recover damages.