Winter’s second nor’easter wreaks havoc in Schuylkill County

Explosive cyclogenesis transformed the winter’s second nor’easter into a deadly bomb cyclone. The dangerous storm caused several major car accidents and road closures across the state of Pennsylvania. While it is natural to attribute such crashes to the weather – and absent such conditions they may not have happened – the root cause is often motorists who fail to adjust their driving to the dangerous conditions.

When weather makes driving perilous, speed is often the culprit in motor vehicle accidents. Drivers of heavy trucks and four-wheel drive vehicles, which usually have better road traction in dicey conditions, sometimes fail to realize that their ability to stop is not any better than the cars that they are passing or tailgating. While law enforcement does what it can to make driving safer by issuing travel advisories or reducing speed limits – during the nor’easter, speed limits in some parts of the state were reduced to 45 miles per hour – there is not much they can do when folks willfully ignore the conditions in which they are driving.

During the storm, the driver of a semi-truck lost control on Route 81 in Schuylkill County, which closed the interstate for several hours. Several other accidents were reported throughout the county during the storm. Interstate 81 was one of the roadways on which the speed limit had been reduced to 45 mph by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Motorists injured during weather-related crashes may be entitled to compensation if another driver was responsible for the car accident for reasons such as not driving responsibly given the conditions. Crash victims should contact an attorney with extensive experience in motor vehicle accident cases. The right lawyer can help to recover the compensation to which they are entitled.

Source: Republican Herald, “Nor’easter batters Schuylkill County with snow, wind,” David Barr, Vicki Terwilliger and Frank Andruscavage, March 2, 2018