Every winter, there are pileup crashes across the United States. These are often caused by snow and ice, and recent reports show that severe winter weather may be coming to West Virginia.
But why do these pileup crashes happen more often in the winter? There are a number of factors to consider.
Loss of traction and visibility
The most obvious cause is simply that roads covered in snow and ice provide far less traction, and drivers can begin to slide and lose control. It just takes one driver sliding on the ice to start the chain reaction.
When looking specifically at a pileup, a big part of the problem is that drivers behind the initial crash don’t slow down. In some cases, this could be because of a lack of visibility. If there are essentially whiteout conditions, those drivers may not even see the pileup until they’re too close to stop before becoming part of it themselves.
Often, though, the issue is that the roads feel relatively safe when traffic is moving at a consistent speed. Drivers may think that they’re driving safely and taking the proper precautions.
But if they suddenly come over a hill and find a pileup on the other side, it immediately becomes clear that they’re going far too fast to stop in time. All of the drivers try to hit their brakes, but many of them slide off the road or into the back of crashed vehicles. In just a few seconds, these following drivers discover that they have likely been driving too fast for the conditions for some time—they just didn’t realize it until they arrived at the pileup.
In this sense, the negligence of these other drivers could cause you to suffer severe injuries this winter. If so, make sure you know what legal options you have.
