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Weather-Related Vehicle and Pedestrian Accidents: Avoiding Missteps When Establishing Liability and Causation

Challenges of Investigation, Insurance, Effective Use of Experts, Unique Defenses, Comparative Negligence, and More

A live 90-minute CLE video webinar with interactive Q&A

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Tuesday, February 4, 2025 (in 14 days)

1:00pm-2:30pm EST, 10:00am-11:30am PST

or call 1-800-926-7926
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This CLE webinar will discuss avoiding potential missteps when dealing with the special liability and causation challenges that arise from weather-related accidents. The panel will address investigation, insurance, the effective use of experts, defenses, comparative negligence, and more.

Description

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that annually approximately 1.2 million, or 21 percent, of car accidents are caused by hazardous weather, including around 5,376 fatalities. Many of these accidents are multiple vehicle chain reaction events. Not every accident is caused by rain or snow, but may also result from low visibility, dense fog, sun glare, snow falling off the roof of a truck or car and hitting another vehicle, pedestrian accidents from visibility and natural lighting conditions, falling trees, black ice from freezing rain and refreeze, and high winds.

One of the biggest challenges in weather-related accidents is determining liability which is much more complicated and challenging than in ordinary accidents and thus hides pitfalls for counsel.

A different set of factors is often considered in determining fault. Comparative fault and special defenses take on greater importance. Different kinds of experts and those who specialize in weather-related causation analysis may be required. Normal conditions that pose no enhanced risk can become deadly hazards under various weather conditions.

Listen as this panel of experienced attorneys and experts discusses how weather-related accidents are different from other kinds of vehicle accidents and how counsel can avoid missteps when pursuing or defending claims arising from them.

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Outline

  1. Overview of weather-related accidents
    1. Visibility
      1.  Sun Glare.
        1. Calculating the Azimuth and Altitude Angle of the Sun.
        2. Sky condition (clear vs cloudy).
      2. Heavy snow and/or torrential rain.
      3. Dense fog.
      4. Lighting conditions towards sunrise or sunset and pedestrian accidents.
        1. Talk about Twilight times: Civil, Nautical and Astronomical.
    2. Slippery Roads
      1. Rain and wet roads.
      2. Icy roads from freezing rain, sleet, snow, and refreeze
    3. High winds
              1. Blowing debris (roadway signs, construction materials) onto roads.
              2. Falling trees.
      1. Hiring an Arborist to see if the tree was healthy.  
    4. Residual snow cover falling off of moving cars and trucks.
  2. Items to utilize for your case.
    1. Police report.
      1. Decoding the report. Look for roadway conditions and environmental conditions.
      2.  Final outcome from Police investigation.
    2. Video, photos, eyewitnesses.
    3. Meteorology report.
    4.  Engineer report.
  3. Insurance considerations
  4. Role and effective use of experts
  5. Factors considered in determining liability
  6. Special issues with chain reaction accidents
  7. Impact of comparative negligence
  8. Defenses
    1. Act of God
    2. Sudden emergency
    3. Unavoidable accident
    4. Failure to adapt
    5. Assumption of the risk
    6. Contributoary negligence

Benefits

The panel will review these and other critical questions:

  • What responsibilities do drivers have during adverse weather?
  • Is poor visibility a defense?
  • How do insurers evaluate weather-related accidents?
  • What are best practices for gathering evidence from the accident scene when the weather may alter it?

Faculty

Else, Thomas
Thomas M. Else
Senior Forensic Meteorologist- WeatherWorks, LLC, AMS Certified Consulting Meteorologist #675, SIMA ASM Certificate Holder, National Weather Service Trained Storm Spotter
WeatherWorks

Mr. Else is a Senior Forensic Meteorologist for Weather Works, LLC in Hackettstown, NJ with over 26 years of...  |  Read More

Additional faculty
to be announced.
Attend on February 4

Cannot Attend February 4?

You may pre-order a recording to listen at your convenience. Recordings are available 48 hours after the webinar. Strafford will process CLE credit for one person on each recording. All formats include course handouts.

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