Michigan Auto Accident Attorneys’ 10 Auto Maintenance Tips for Reducing Risk and Liability for Winter Car Accidents

In Michigan, auto accident attorneys and personal injury lawyers are gearing up for the winter workload. When ice and snow hit the roads, auto accidents escalate as drivers slip and slide all over the highways. As a result, the number of personal injury claims also escalates, and the need for injury lawyers to protect drivers’ rights to insurance benefits and compensation for damages goes way up.

Most people are aware at some level that they need to drive slower and more cautiously when winter weather strikes, but few realize how much a role proper maintenance and preparation play in preventing accidents, ensuring maximum insurance coverage for accident injuries, and minimizing a driver’s liability for serious damages to other drivers and passengers. Failure to maintain your car or truck can increase your chances of being in an accident, either by causing it or by making it more difficult to avoid an accident caused by others.

Since Michigan uses a modified comparative negligence standard to determine whether an injured person can be awarded damages in a lawsuit, any factor within a driver’s control that contributes to the cause of or failure to avoid an accident could make a driver partially or wholly liable for an accident. If your car stalls on the road, or even on the side of the road, it can be an obstruction that increases the likelihood of accidents and injuries. If a maintenance issue causes you to park your car on the side of the road in a snow storm and it gets hit when another car loses control – possibly because they were nervous about avoiding your car while driving in a storm – you could be held partly liable because, if you had maintained your car properly, then you wouldn’t have been on the side of the road to get hit. Similarly, if you try to avoid a car that stopped suddenly and lose control on the icy road you could have some liability if you didn’t have snow tires on your car or failed to get a problem with your anti-lock breaks fixed.

Generally speaking, any maintenance issue that causes one of the following could increase your liability if you have an auto accident:

• Decreased visibility
• Increased risk of engine failure
• Decreased ability to control the vehicle
• Increased risk for obstructing other drivers’ visibility

10 Car Maintenance Tips for Winter Driving from the Michigan Auto Accident Attorneys at Sachs Waldman

To help you avoid winter auto accidents and reduce your liability in accidents, the Michigan auto accident attorneys at Sachs Waldman have assembled this list of maintenance tips to prepare you.

1. Get your car checked over and regular maintenance done before winter weather strikes — Make sure all your belts, hoses, spark plugs and similar components are in good working order. All engine components work harder in the winter and are likely to leave you stranded and exposed in freezing weather if they are worn or damaged.
2. Get your brakes checked and anti-lock systems repaired — You don’t want bad brakes making a slippery winter situation even worse. If you have a brake problem or there’s something amiss with the anti-lock brake system, failure to fix these issues will increase your risk of accidents and increase your liability.
3. Fully inflate tires to manufacturer’s specifications — Tire pressure drops about 1 pound for every 10 degrees colder it gets. Underinflated (or overinflated) tires decrease a driver’s ability to control the car.
4. Put snow tires on your car — Snow tires greatly increase traction and control on snowy or icy roads. Liability for an accident may increase if you lose control because your summer tires or all-season tires don’t have enough traction. The cost of snow tires is minimal compared to a personal injury lawsuit.
5. Check your battery and charging system — A weak battery can leave you standing in the cold when you can’t start your engine and can even damage your alternator and charging system, which could lead to sudden engine failure while driving.
6. Make sure your cooling system is filled properly and in good shape — Lack of coolant or a leaky cooling system can cause your engine to overheat – even in freezing weather – and force you to suddenly slow down and pull over. Not only will you be an obstruction to other traffic, but you’ll also be without a source of heat while you wait for a tow truck.
7. Install new windshield wipers, fill your fluid reservoir, and check your defroster — Accumulations of snow, slush or ice on your windshield or rear window because of old, out-of-shape wipers or a shortage of windshield wiper fluid can cause serious visibility problems. So can foggy windows resulting from a malfunctioning defroster. Don’t forget the rear window wipers and defroster if your car has them.
8. Keep your gas tank full — Your engine works harder in the winter and may not get the same mileage as it does in the summer. Don’t risk driving on fumes when it may mean trudging through miles of ice and snow to get more gas and leaving your car abandoned on the highway.
9. Weight down the rear axle with bags of sand if your car has rear-wheel drive — The added weight of a hundred pounds of sand gives your rear wheels more traction and increases stability. The extra weight is not needed for front-wheel and all-wheel drive vehicles because the weight of the engine is over the drive wheels. Put the sand in the trunk, not in the passenger compartment where it can fly forward and strike someone during a sudden stop.
10. Clear all the snow off your car before driving — While it’s tempting to drive off with six inches of snow on the roof or hood of your car instead of being late to work, the snow flying off as you drive can blind other drivers – or yourself if it’s coming off your hood – and cause an accident that you’ll be liable for.

As you can see, paying attention to these 10 simple maintenance issues can go a long way toward avoiding accidents and liability during winter weather. They’ll also seriously decrease your risk of spending unnecessary hours standing or hiking in the cold and snow. But they won’t totally eliminate the possibility of a winter auto accident. Snow, ice, and other less-cautious drivers create serious risks on Michigan highways and roadways. If you’ve been injured in a winter car accident in Michigan, the personal injury firm of Sachs Waldman, P.C., will fight for you and help you obtain the insurance benefits and compensation for damages that you’re entitled to. We have nearly four decades of experience handling personal injury cases resulting from winter auto accidents in Michigan. Call our Detroit personal injury attorneys’ office at 1-800-638-6722 to schedule a free consultation.