On Sunday morning, March 23, 2014, light snow was falling in Lenexa, Kansas. As a result of the snow, roads were slick. The slippery driving conditions caused a twenty-two car pileup on a ramp near Highway 69 and Interstate 35. Fortunately, no one was killed in this chain reaction accident, but a total of eight people were injured. The first cars became involved in the accident around six thirty in the morning, and after the series of accidents had occurred, police closed the ramp for a few hours so that all of the vehicles could be cleared from the roadway.
While icy roads were to blame for the recent chain reaction accident in Lenexa, drivers should be aware that pile-ups can happen when roads are wet, and they sometimes even happen on dry pavement. Also, chain reaction accidents happen quickly. A one or two-vehicle accident can become a multiple vehicle pile-up within minutes, causing many injuries and a large amount of property damage within a very short period of time.
Fortunately, Kansas drivers can often avoid becoming entangled in chain reaction accidents by implementing safe driving strategies. The following safe driving tips can help drivers to effectively avoid chain reaction accidents under many different circumstances, including wet or icy road conditions and heavy traffic.
Awareness of weather and road conditions is essential to the prevention of chain reaction accidents. Of course, awareness alone will not prevent an accident. Drivers must also adjust their driving to the current road conditions, and they must continually monitor road conditions to make additional adjustments as conditions change. For example, rain, snow and fog reduce visibility. It is important that drivers slow down in wet weather so that they have time to react to accidents, animals, and other road hazards when they see them, because by the time that they see them, they are likely to already be very close to them. Snow, sleet, and rain reduce traction, so it is important that you drive slow enough to avoid hydroplaning and to be able to stop without sliding all over the place.
Another way to avoid chain reaction accidents is to make sure that you always leave plenty of room between your car and the vehicle in front of you. One way to make sure that there is adequate space is to remain at least one car length behind the vehicle in front of you for every ten miles per hour that you are traveling. When you leave enough space between your car and the vehicles around you, you will have time and space within which to respond to changing road and traffic conditions, and to react quickly if necessary.
Adding the aforementioned safe driving practices to your repertoire can help you to avoid many accidents, including chain reaction-style accidents. However, it is possible that you may still be involved in an automobile accident. If you are involved in a chain reaction accident, you may face a complicated set of facts which could make it difficult for liability for your damages to be apportioned among the drivers involved. This can be frustrating, because it can cause a delay the payment of your claim. We understand that you are counting on the payment of your claim to help you recover physically and financially from your accident, and we can help you to cut through the confusion and obtain the recovery that you deserve, as soon as possible. To learn more about how a Kansas Personal Injury Attorney can help you to obtain the settlement that you deserve, please call our Wichita office today at (316) 264-1548.
