• videocam On-Demand Webinar
  • signal_cellular_alt Intermediate
  • card_travel Personal Injury and Med Mal
  • schedule 90 minutes

Weather-Related Vehicle and Pedestrian Accidents: Avoiding Missteps When Establishing Liability and Causation

Challenges of Investigation, Insurance, Effective Use of Experts, Unique Defenses, Comparative Negligence, and More

$197.00

This course is $0 with these passes:

CLE
ALL
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About the Course

Introduction

This CLE webinar will discuss avoiding potential missteps when dealing with the special liability and causation challenges that arise from weather-related accidents. The panel will address investigation, insurance, the effective use of experts, defenses, comparative negligence, and more.

Description

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that annually approximately 1.2 million, or 21 percent, of car accidents are caused by hazardous weather, including around 5,376 fatalities. Many of these accidents are multiple vehicle chain reaction events. Not every accident is caused by rain or snow, but may also result from low visibility, dense fog, sun glare, snow falling off the roof of a truck or car and hitting another vehicle, pedestrian accidents from visibility and natural lighting conditions, falling trees, black ice from freezing rain and refreeze, and construction equipment blown into oncoming traffic from high winds.

One of the biggest challenges in weather-related accidents is determining liability, which is much more complicated and challenging than in ordinary accidents and thus hides pitfalls for counsel.

A different set of factors is often considered in determining fault. Comparative fault and special defenses take on greater importance. Different kinds of experts and those who specialize in weather-related causation analysis may be required. Normal conditions that pose no enhanced risk can become deadly hazards under various weather conditions.

Listen as this panel of an experienced plaintiff’s attorney and expert meteorologist discuss how weather-related accidents are different from other kinds of vehicle accidents and how counsel can avoid missteps when pursuing or defending claims arising from them.

Presented By

Thomas M. Else
Senior Forensic Meteorologist
WeatherWorks, LLC

Mr. Else is a Senior Forensic Meteorologist for Weather Works, LLC in Hackettstown, NJ with over 27 years of professional experience. He was granted the Certified Consulting Meteorologist designation by the American Meteorological Society in 2011, and was granted the Advanced Snow Manager (ASM) designation by the Snow & Ice Management Association in 2018.  Mr. Else's specialties include: Creating site-specific Certified Past Weather Reports for both Plaintiff and Defense firms. His Areas of Expertise include: slip-and-fall accidents on snow, ice and/or water, refreeze, wind damage, lightning strikes, floods, visibility, lighting conditions, and more.


 

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Alexander P. Kemp
Attorney
Michigan Auto Law

Mr. Kemp is one of fewer than 90 attorneys in the entire U.S. who is Board-Certified in Truck Accident Law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (an ABA Accredited Lawyer Certification Program). He focuses on catastrophic and wrongful death truck and car crash cases. Mr. Kemp has obtained over 20 seven-figure recoveries, including the highest reported settlement in Michigan in 2024. His recent multi-million-dollar victories include an $8.5 million wrongful death settlement and an $8 million settlement that was the largest of its kind ever in Michigan. Mr. Kemp regularly litigates claims against motor carriers, brokers and freight forwarders, road construction companies, and other corporate defendants. He is ranked among the Michigan Super Lawyers Rising Stars and has been named to the Top 10 Personal Injury Attorneys under 40,” “Top 40 under 40” and Trucking-Top.” Mr. Kemp is named among the Top Lawyers in Metro Detroit by DBusiness Magazine. A member of the AAJ Truck Litigation Group and the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys, he frequently speaks at legal conferences across the country on topics related to commercial motor vehicle litigation.

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Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.


  • Live Online


    On Demand

Date + Time

  • event

    Tuesday, March 11, 2025

  • schedule

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  1. Overview of weather-related accidents
    1. Visibility
      1. Sun Glare
        1. Calculating the Azimuth and Altitude angle of the sun
        2. Sky condition (clear vs cloudy)
      2. Snow squall
      3. Torrential rain
      4. Dense fog
      5. Lighting conditions towards sunrise or sunset and pedestrian accidents
        1. Twilight times: civil, nautical and astronomical
    2. Slippery Roads
      1. Rain and wet roads
      2. Icy roads from freezing rain, sleet, snow, and refreeze
      3. Bridge vs road surface
      4. Shaded road vs road exposed to direct sunlight
    3. High winds
      1. Blowing debris (roadway signs, construction equipment) onto roads
      2. Falling trees and limbs
    4. Residual snow cover falling off moving cars and trucks
  2. Items to utilize for your case
    1. Police report
      1. Decoding the report. Look for roadway conditions and environmental conditions
      2. Final outcome from police investigation
    2. Video, photos, eyewitnesses
    3. Meteorology report
    4. Engineer report
    5. Arborist report
  3. Insurance considerations
  4. Factors considered in determining liability
  5. Defenses
    1. Comparative negligence
    2. Act of God
    3. Sudden emergency
    4. Unavoidable accident

The panel will review these and other critical questions:

  • What responsibilities do drivers have during adverse weather?
  • What is considered a sudden emergency?
  • Is poor visibility a defense?
  • What are best practices for gathering evidence from the accident scene when the weather may alter it?