North Carolina Wet Road Accidents Attorney

Drivers must take certain precautions in rainy weather, such as reducing their speed and turning on their headlights when appropriate. Driving on highways and congested streets on rainy days may prove treacherous and unfortunately may lead to serious crashes. Raleigh car accident attorney Carl Nagle exclusively handles motor vehicle collision cases. When a wet road accident occurs on a North Carolina road, Nagle & Associates is prepared to take steps to investigate the crash, collect vital evidence, notify all insurance carriers, and secure the highest possible cash settlement. We have helped personal injury victims throughout the state, including people living in Wilmington, Asheville, Charlotte and Winston-Salem.

Pursuing Damages from a Careless Driver Following a Wet Road Accident

After suffering injuries in a car crash, victims are legally entitled to collect money damages from all at-fault parties and their insurance carriers. In some situations, another driver may be responsible for causing the accident, and at other times a government agency or a company may have carelessly contributed to the collision. For example, both a careless driver and a negligent construction company may be found legally responsible for injuries caused by a crash during a rainstorm. A construction company may have failed to place proper signage, and if the defendant was speeding and lost control of their vehicle near the work zone, ultimately colliding with the victim, both the company and the driver may be at fault.

For a victim of a car accident, the medical treatment, reduced income, and emotional suffering may be overwhelming. By pursuing a legal claim against the responsible parties, financial burdens and stress can be significantly reduced. Also, careful pursuit of full compensation can help the victim to overcome income loss and to look at new options in cases where injuries prevent the victim from returning to the same line of work.

Wet road cases present certain legal complications. With the advent of anti-lock braking, we seldom have measured skidmarks that allow our collision investigation team to determine speeds and stopping distances. Rain and wet road conditions only add to this complication. Even with anti-lock brakes, we often have yaw marks or other tire impressions to help us determine exactly what happened. However, with wet roads, we are left with no tire impressions and far more uncertain evidence concerning speed and proper stopping distance. Because only 1% of fault bars all claims, insurance carriers may look at wet road conditions and the absence of evidence to support injury claim denials and aggressive defense of serious injury claims.

To collect money for collision-related personal injury, the victim must be innocent of any wrongdoing and must also prove that other driver(s) were “negligent”. Negligence is a legal term that means careless, and when a driver fails to act reasonably under the circumstances, they may be found negligent. In the context of car accidents on wet roads, negligence may be evident in a driver’s failure to reduce their vehicle’s speed to adjust for slick roads or reduced visibility. Our North Carolina traffic laws actually require drivers to travel at speeds below the posted limit whenever weather conditions render it unsafe to drive at the posted limit. In trucking accident cases, truck drivers are required by federal safety regulations to reduce their speed whenever safe driving calls for a lower speed, and to even get off the road entirely when weather conditions render driving unsafe.

North Carolina law requires the use of headlights when visibility is restricted by light conditions. Headlights are also required when drivers are using windshield wipers, such as during a rainstorm. The effort to maintain control of the vehicle is critical, since wet roads lead to slick surfaces. Some vehicles hydroplane, and the driver will be forced to respond to a sudden loss of control. In certain situations, brakes fail when they are wet, and again, a driver must react in a reasonable manner, as others would under similar circumstances.

After suffering injuries in a crash on a wet road, victims must prove that the defendant’s conduct caused the accident. If they are successful at showing that the defendant caused the crash, damages can then be proven and collected. Money damages awarded to collision victims include past and future medical care costs, lost wages and future lost earning ability, and payment for pain, suffering, lost quality-of-life, scarring and disfigurement. It is important to demonstrate the full impact of the accident through the use of medical professionals, vocational experts, and others who can attest to the ongoing and lifelong consequences of the crash upon the victim’s quality of life.

Car accident victims pursuing a personal injury claim in North Carolina must negate any allegation that they were partly responsible for the wreck. Under the contributory negligence rule, victims are prevented from recovering monetary compensation if they contributed to the accident. Even if the defendant was 90% responsible for the crash, if the victim is found to have been 10% negligent, they will be barred from recovering damages.

Explore Your Options with a Car Accident Attorney in the Raleigh Area

Victims throughout North Carolina can rely on motor vehicle collision attorney Carl Nagle to aggressively advance their right to recover compensation from an at-fault person or entity. Our firm understands the intense financial pressures that follow a vehicle crash, and for this reason we make it a priority to provide clients with financial stability. As a result, we charge a lower legal fee than many other personal injury law firms. Raleigh car accident lawyer Carl Nagle can help you understand your legal rights under North Carolina law. Our seven offices throughout the state have helped individuals in Raleigh, Wilmington, Winston-Salem, Asheville, Hickory, Charlotte, Greensboro, and other areas of Forsyth, Mecklenburg, Wake, Brunswick, Guilford, Cumberland, Durham, Catawba, and New Hanover Counties. You can contact us online or by calling (800) 411-1583 to start discussing your situation.