Kitsap County Crashes Spike Due to Winter Weather

Chelsea Gilbert

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We have blogged about several tragic Christmas Eve car crashes. Some of the crashes on Christmas Eve were the result of alcohol, but many of the crashes were a result of the treacherous winter weather. In many areas the slushy, wet roads turned to ice when the temperature dropped to below freezing in the evening. In Kitsap County emergency dispatchers were flooded with calls. On Christmas Eve they fielded reports of about 68 traffic wrecks between the hours of 8 p.m. and midnight. A number of these accidents resulted in driver and passenger injuries.

It's tempting for some drivers (and their insurance companies) to blame the "treacherous winter weather" for a crash. While bad conditions can certainly contribute to a collision in a causal sense, they're not an excuse. Rain, sleet, snow and ice don't obviate the duty to operate a vehicle safely and with due regard for the prevailing road conditions. Rarely if ever should claimants accept this excuse when they are injured in a car crash that wasn't their fault.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.