Car Accidents Caused by Bad Weather

Chicago weather conditions can put drivers at a greater risk of being involved in an automobile accident.

Even though you may be a cautious driver, there are other factors and other drivers that you must remain careful of. Often, there are warning signs on highways and roadways indicating areas that are more impacted by bad weather. Such areas can be slippery slopes, sharp turns, and rocky terrain. Statistics shows that 11% of fatal accidents are caused by bad weather.

Weather-Related Car Accidents

While weather is one factor that contributes to a car accident, there are other factors as well that can turn into a dangerous driving situation. These factors include:

• speed
• fog
• road type
• pavement temperature
• driver reaction time

Wet Pavement and Rain

Wet pavement can cause hydroplaning when a motorist is driving too fast. This happens when too much water is under a tire and the tire cannot process and spread it fast enough, causing the car to spin out of control. Maintain your tires properly and take safety precautions when driving in bad weather conditions. Almost 1.1 million car crashes and over 5,000 fatalities are caused annually due to wet pavement. Overall, wet pavement and hydroplaning are the cause of close to 80% of all accidents caused by weather conditions. Knowing your car, understanding how it runs in the rain, and your speed can help you reduce the potential danger.

Icy Pavement and Snow

There are many areas across the United States that get extreme snowstorms. Because of these snow storms, schools are delayed and cancelled, people cannot make it to work, and even worse, people are killed in car crashes caused by snow on the roads. Annually, there are about 225,000 car accidents caused by snowy road conditions and almost 1,000 fatalities occur on highways.

On average, icy pavement leads to 200,000 crashes and 620 deaths annually. It is extremely important to have the right tires on your car for the weather conditions in the area you live in. If you are more affected by snowstorms, make sure you avoid driving in snowy weather or driving too fast and make sure you have weather resistant tires. When driving in snowy weather, maintain a distance of at least two car lengths from the vehicle in front of you. This will give you enough leeway in case you need to make an abrupt stop.