When a winter snowstorm hits, you expect the roads to get more dangerous. You expect accidents and fatalities to increase. After all, driving in snow, ice and slush simply makes the roads more hazardous and reduces control.
Storms can be dangerous, and weather patterns do cause car accidents. That much is clear. What may surprise you, though, is the way that the trends go the day after a storm. Researchers have found out that there is a “significant uptick” in fatal incidents and accidents overall on the day after a severe winter storm.
Why does this happen? One reason is that the roads could still have a lot of snow and ice to contend with. Just because it stops falling does not mean those roads are suddenly safe. It takes work crews a long time to get back down to dry pavement, especially on back roads.
Moreover, researchers claim that people assume they are going to get safe roads. They think they can drive normally. If they waited out the storm, they assume that they’re safe, and they underestimate the risks that still exist. All of this makes them more careless than they would have been if they were actually driving on the same day as the storm.
It is important to remember the real impact of the weather this year. Take steps to protect yourself and make sure you drive safely when the roads are less than perfect. At the same time, look into your legal rights to financial compensation if you suffer injuries in an accident caused by another driver in Nebraska.