Be careful out there! Just because there’s ice on the roads doesn’t mean you’re off the hook if you plow into someone while you’re driving.
You might think that if you have a wreck while driving on snow or ice, you can’t be sued. After all, the wreck wasn’t your fault, it was the weather's fault, right? Well, not exactly.
Arkansas Law requires a driver to drive at a reasonable and prudent speed “under the conditions and having regard to the actual and potential hazards then existing.” Ark. Code Ann. § 27-51-201(a)(1). Basically, what that means is that if you’re driving on snow or ice, you’d better drive slow enough that you don’t run into someone.
There have been cases in Arkansas that have addressed this issue. In one Arkansas case, the jury found that the driver was driving too fast when he was driving 30 MPH o
n a road that was glazed with ice. In that case, there was testimony that a reasonable speed on that road with that amount of ice was 15 MPH.
Caution: This does not mean that 15 MPH is always reasonable. In fact, if you’re out driving and you cross the center line, or aren’t able to stop in time and rear-end someone, then that probably means that you were driving too fast under the circumstances.
Of course, when it’s icy or snowy, the safest thing to do is to stay home, but if that’s not an option, drive slow!
