Road Traffic Crashes And Winter Weather

• Published date: 27 May 2021
• Subject Matter: Transport, Rail, Road & Cycling
• Law Firm: Digby Brown
• Author: Digby Brown Solicitors

Given the recent spell of bad weather and treacherous road conditions, we thought it might be useful to highlight some common misconceptions about what would be deemed to be negligent behaviour on the roads and what is simply an unavoidable, weather-related accident.

Snow and ice are slippery. That may be obvious but why are they slippery and, more specifically, why do they cause cars to slide? The friction between the rubber of your tyre and the surface of the ice or snow causes a thin layer of water to form. This thin layer of water is highly viscous. It acts as a perfect lubricant between the two surfaces which causes the tyre to slip. The more force that is added, the more friction is created and the more the tyre slips.

Scenario 1 - Being hit from the rear by a vehicle failing to stop

This is by far the most common winter accident that Digby Brown deals with. The car behind you fails to stop in time and hits the rear of your car. Snow, ice and rain all increase braking distances significantly and increase the likelihood of this type of crash happening in bad weather.

Whose fault is it? Generally, not the driver of the vehicle that has been hit. That is true in just about every circumstance, however there will always be situations where this could be questioned, especially if they have stopped suddenly without due cause. Very often, blame lies with the driver of the vehicle that has failed to stop in time. However, are they always at fault? If the road conditions are bad and the road has snow or ice on it and they have hit the car in front with enough force to have caused injury to any of the occupants of either vehicle, it is likely that they have failed to drive with reasonable care, no matter what the speed limit might be.

Is there an argument that the road should have been gritted and the Council or the roads authority is at fault? Very doubtful, but not impossible. For example, if the road is notorious for accidents during bad weather or it is a known black spot for black ice, there could an argument to say the roads authority had not properly prioritised the route to be gritted to prevent these situations from recurring.

Scenario 2 - Losing control of your vehicle and leaving the road

You lose control of your vehicle, it skids or just no longer responds to your controls and you leave the road.

This type of accident is completely dependent on the speed and behaviour of the driver in conjunction with the conditions of the road. In the extreme, any...