Floods Causing Road Traffic Accidents

It is hard to believe the amount of rain that has fallen over the UK in the past month. In fact the majority of the UK has had well above the average amount of rain fall with some areas having their wettest June on record. This rain has caused serious havoc with our roads with many of them being cut off completely.

The chances of road traffic accidents happening are greatly increased when we have more rain than normal. When our roads have been dry for some time and then suddenly the heavens open and the rain comes down, this can make driving conditions seriously impaired. Tarmac becomes almost as slippery as ice when water hits it after a period of dry and warm weather. It only takes driving a little too fast around a roundabout or turning in general when if the ground is seriously slipping you can loose control and skid across the road.

Since the rain began there have been numerous occasions where people have been late to work due to accidents on the road or been involved in an road traffic accident themselves.

Having a road traffic accident can be quite a scary experience. Loosing control of a vehicle where you spin out into the path of on coming traffic is every driver’s worst nightmare.

You might think that if an accident occurs due to the natural weather conditions even if they are extreme then its no-ones fault except Mother Nature or climate change. This is true to some degree but if a river bursts its bank or a bridge collapse then it is the council’s responsibility. If you had a road traffic accident and it was because of extreme water on roads or because you tried to avoid hitting another vehicle that had lost is grip then you could be entitled to claim compensation for any pain and suffering. Claim compensation for accidents that were not our own fault is our civil and legal right. It is not fair for a person who has to find the cost of having weeks of work, repairs to their car all due to a road traffic accident.

There appears to be a stigma attached to claiming compensation. A lot of people think it’s reserved for the lower classes if you don’t mind me using the old fashioned class system. This is so not true. People are also put off by what they think is a complex financial and legal process. The truth of the matter is that claiming compensation for say a road traffic accident is a simple and painless process. All it takes is a call to an Accident Claims firm to start the ball rolling. They will then send you a form or questionnaire to fill out. Once you have filled in the form you can sit back and let your Lawyer do all the hard work. You will not have to pay a penny towards this law suit as most Lawyers work on a “No Win No Fee” basis which means they wont take the case on unless they are 99% sure they will win. The fees of the Lawyer will be paid once the case has been won. If for some reason the case is lost then the fees of the Lawyer will be paid by “after the event insurance”. This really is a painless way of claiming for compensation for a accident that was not your fault.

So if the floods have caused you to have an accident, don’t think there is nothing you can do about it, call a Lawyer and see what they have to say. Remember if you do or say nothing then the same accident could happen again to someone else. But if you make a stand and seek compensation then those that were responsible will do more to protect people the next time we have flood warnings.