Can I Be Held At Fault If Rain Caused My Accident?
Can I be held at fault if rain caused my accident? The short answer is yes, you can be held at fault even if your accident was caused by rain. Connecticut statute § 14-218a is a law that addresses these issues. Statute § 14-218a says that you have to drive reasonably factoring in the weather conditions, inter alia.
For example, let’s say you are on the highway and drive through a huge puddle. The puddle causes you to hydroplane striking another car. You’d be blamed for the accident and your car insurance would have to pay.
What if the puddle was caused by a design flaw? Can I sue the state or town?
Not likely. There is another statute, Connecticut statute § 13a-149 which states that the defect in the road must be the only reason the crash happened. In the above scenario, the car driving too fast plus the puddle, caused the crash.
The law in this area is complicated, and I am not going into great detail. Bottom line, when the weather gets bad, slow down.
