When another driver loses control on an icy or snow-covered road and hits your vehicle, are they still liable for the damages? Aren’t they off the hook for a crash if it was caused by black ice that formed on the road? Common questions, but the answers may surprise you.
Winter weather certainly makes even simple drives more treacherous, and the prep time to get out the door and on the road takes a lot more effort. But despite the challenges, if drivers choose to get behind the wheel, they owe a legal duty to take reasonable steps to make the road safer — for them and for other motorists sharing the road.
Does Winter Weather Excuse Driver Liability if it Leads to a Crash in Pennsylvania?
No. Many drivers think if someone else loses control and hits them in bad weather, they might not have a case. But winter weather does not lessen a driver’s duty of care or relieve them of liability for a crash. Pennsylvania law requires drivers to prepare their vehicle before driving and adjust their behavior based on current road conditions, traffic, and weather.
What Reasonable Steps Are Drivers Expected to Take in Winter?
When winter weather arrives, drivers have a few more steps they need to take before they ever get behind the wheel or head out on the road. These additional precautions should be adhered to before and during any winter weather driving — even those quick runs to the convenience store. Failing to take these steps will likely be considered negligence if a crash occurs.
Preparing Your Vehicle for Winter Weather
Here’s what insurance companies won’t tell you: if your vehicle wasn’t winter-ready when you crashed, that fact will surface during the investigation. But what exactly does that mean?
A driver with bald tires or broken lights may try to shift blame to an icy road after crashing into you, but the evidence will tell a different story. Pennsylvania law doesn’t give drivers a pass for ignoring basic vehicle maintenance just because snow started falling.
Here are some of the key vehicle preparations you should be taking in winter:
- Check Tire Tread and Pressure: Worn tires fail to grip icy roads and constitute negligent vehicle maintenance.
- Get Brake Maintenance: Defective brakes eliminate a driver’s ability to stop safely and create liability when crashes occur.
- Replace Worn Wiper Blades: Drivers cannot claim poor visibility as an excuse when they neglect basic wiper maintenance.
- Verify All Lights Work: Malfunctioning headlights, taillights, or brake lights violate Pennsylvania traffic laws and endanger other motorists.
- Clear All Snow and Ice from Vehicle: Pennsylvania law prohibits driving with snow-covered vehicles as it creates a serious hazards for other drivers. This is not just clearing snow from the windows on your vehicle. You must also clear the snow from the roof of your vehicle and elsewhere to make sure it doesn’t become a projectile for other vehicles.
Adjusting Your Driving to the Road, Weather, and Traffic
The driver who hit you may try to claim they were driving safely for the conditions. Their insurance adjuster might even agree with them every time they call. But juries in Pennsylvania are charged to look at this differently: What you think is safe doesn’t matter if you could have taken actions that would have prevented the crash.
To reduce the risk of a crash, reasonable measures in winter weather drivers need to:
- Reduce Speed: Posted limits represent the maximum traveling speeds under ideal conditions, not the minimum requirements during winter weather.
- Increase Following Distance: Vehicles take even more time to stop when roads are slick or snow covered. In addition to slowing down, drivers should leave a bigger gap to give them more time and space to stop
- Brake Gently: Many drivers lose control on slick winter roads by slamming on the brakes. Learning the proper braking technique in these conditions can help you to maintain control if you need to slow down.
- Avoid Sudden Movements: Abrupt steering or lane changes — especially during winter — can cause drivers to lose control and cause a crash.
When Choosing to Stay Home Is Best
Sometimes the weather may be so severe, that the best decision is to stay home and off the roads — unless it is an emergency. Driving to the emergency room carries a different liability than dashing out to grab coffee. The law recognizes that some risks are unreasonable no matter how carefully you drive.
During winter storms and frigid temperatures:
- Delay any non-essential trips until the roads have been cleared.
- Monitor weather reports from local news to stay informed about official warnings and advisories.
- Wait for road crews to treat dangerous conditions before heading out.
- Avoid rush hour traffic during snowstorms and other harsh winter weather.
- Listen to PennDOT travel advisories.
Who May Be Liable When Winter Weather Leads to a Car Accident?
The question of who pays after a winter crash in Harrisburg, PA is rarely simple. Insurance companies often try to shift the blame away from their policyholders to others involved in the crash, delaying your claim while you wait for answers.
We’ve represented enough winter crash victims to know the truth. Drivers don’t cease to be liable for their negligence — even when there is ice or snow on the ground. Multiple parties can share responsibility, and each one will try to shift blame away from themselves.
The at-fault driver bears primary responsibility if the crash occurred because they failed to adjust their driving behavior to winter weather conditions. Winter weather makes driving harder, but Pennsylvania law still requires drivers to operate safely or stay off the roads.
Other parties may also share liability, depending on the circumstances of the crash — such as municipalities, property owners, employers, and more.
In short, your case may involve one liable party or several. Missing any of them leaves money on the table that could help you pay medical bills, future care costs, and other damages resulting from the crash.
Schmidt Kramer investigates every potential source of recovery to maximize what you receive.
What Makes Driving in Winter More Dangerous Than Other Seasons?
Winter transforms Harrisburg, PA roads into unpredictable hazards that catch even experienced drivers off guard. The combination of weather conditions, reduced visibility, and road surface changes creates risks that don’t exist during other seasons. These factors work together to increase both crash frequency and severity.
- Ice Formation Creates Invisible Hazards: Black ice forms without warning and eliminates traction completely, giving drivers no time to react.
- Snow Obscures Road Markings and Edges: Lane lines, curbs, and road boundaries disappear under snow cover, making navigation dangerous.
- Reduced Daylight Hours: Winter darkness arrives earlier, forcing more commuters to drive in low visibility conditions.
- Temperature Fluctuations Cause Refreezing: Roads that appear clear can refreeze quickly when temperatures drop, creating sudden slick spots.
- Salt and Chemical Residue Affect Stopping Distance: Road treatment chemicals mix with moisture to create slippery film that reduces brake effectiveness.
- Window Fogging Limits Visibility: Temperature differences between inside and outside air cause constant fogging that blocks driver vision.
- Shorter Following Distances in Traffic: Drivers fail to increase space between vehicles despite needing much longer stopping distances on winter roads.
- Vehicle Mechanical Stress: Cold temperatures strain batteries, fluids, and tires, increasing the likelihood of breakdowns and equipment failure.
What Are the Most Common Causes of Winter Weather Car Accidents?
Winter weather is harder to navigate, but it is still driver negligence that causes winter crashes. Unfortunately, we see the same types of mistakes repeated every season. Most stem from drivers who refuse to adjust their behavior when conditions deteriorate.
These preventable actions make winter roads more hazardous for everyone:
- Driving Too Fast for Conditions: Drivers who maintain normal speeds on icy or snow-covered roads cannot stop in time to avoid collisions.
- Following Other Vehicles Too Closely: Tailgating eliminates the extended stopping distance required on slippery winter roads.
- Slamming on Brakes: Abrupt braking causes vehicles to skid out of control instead of slowing down safely.
- Failing to Clear Snow From Vehicles: Snow flying off roofs and hoods blinds other drivers and causes multi-vehicle crashes
- Distracted Driving: Taking eyes off the road to adjust heat, check phones, or manage children proves especially dangerous when conditions demand full attention.
- Not Using Headlights: Drivers who fail to turn on lights during snow, fog, or reduced visibility make their vehicles invisible to others.
- Making Aggressive Lane Changes: Sudden movements break traction on icy roads and send vehicles spinning into other lanes.
- Neglecting Vehicle Maintenance: Bald tires, worn brakes, and broken lights turn manageable winter conditions into crash scenarios.
- Ignoring Weather Warnings: Drivers who disregard PennDOT advisories and travel alerts put themselves and others at unnecessary risk.
- Overcorrecting When Sliding: Jerking the wheel during a skid makes loss of control worse instead of helping drivers recover.
Injured in a Harrisburg Winter Car Crash? Call Schmidt Kramer for Legal Help Today
Insurance companies start building their defense the moment a winter crash happens, but you don’t have to let them control your case, and you don’t have to try to navigate the legal process on your own.
At Schmidt Kramer, we have a strong and experienced legal team. We advocate for injured victims throughout Harrisburg every day. We don’t give in to insurance companies trying to shift the blame to minimize your claim — or deny it altogether.
When you hire our team of experienced car accident lawyers in Harrisburg, we have your back, and we always seek the maximum possible compensation. We know how to prove liability when insurance adjusters try to blame the ice instead of careless driving.
Request a FREE, no-risk case review.
Call Schmidt Kramer today 717-888-8888