{"id":892,"date":"2019-11-15T10:56:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-15T10:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/epicdevsite.info\/2023-EdwardLeeLaw\/?p=892"},"modified":"2023-10-30T10:57:53","modified_gmt":"2023-10-30T10:57:53","slug":"establishing-liability-in-a-winter-weather-accident-in-new-jersey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epicdevsite.info\/2023-EdwardLeeLaw\/establishing-liability-in-a-winter-weather-accident-in-new-jersey\/","title":{"rendered":"Establishing Liability in a Winter Weather Accident in New Jersey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Who Is Responsible When Poor Road Conditions Contribute to an Accident?<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Winter can be brutal in New Jersey, with an average of nearly two feet of snow every year. Snowy and icy conditions can make driving treacherous, leading to countless accidents when drivers struggle to stop or control a vehicle. When there\u2019s an accident due to icy or snowy conditions, how do you establish fault? Is it just an \u201cact of God?\u201d As a general rule, the answer is no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Duty to Use Reasonable Care<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Under the laws that allocate responsibility for personal injury<\/a>\u2014specifically, the laws of negligence\u2014every person in society has a duty, at all times, to use reasonable care when engaging in any activity. Whether you\u2019re designing or manufacturing a product, maintaining real property, or operating a motor vehicle<\/a>, you have an obligation to act as a reasonable person would in the same situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The obvious question\u2014how do you know what\u2019s reasonable? Unfortunately, the law does not offer specific rules with respect to what\u2019s considered reasonable. If you are injured and file a lawsuit based on negligence, the members of the jury typically make that determination based on the facts and their perception of \u201creasonable\u201d behavior. The law generally identifies as reasonable what \u201can ordinary person of average prudence\u201d would do, given the same set of circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how does that apply to driving in New Jersey\u2019s winter weather? A jury may look at a number of factors to determine whether there was a breach of the duty of reasonable care:<\/p>\n\n\n\n