It seems as though a Las Vegas resident cannot turn on the local news without hearing about another dangerous and often life-claiming accident on a local road or highway. Car accidents are incredibly common and are a frustrating cause of personal injuries because they should be preventable. If drivers exercised reasonable care in the execution of their driving duty, then many collisions could be prevented.
One aspect of understanding a driver’s duty is reasonableness. A driver is not expected to be perfect or to meet an unattainable standard of safety. They are, however, expected to exercise caution, recognize hazards and make reasonable judgments about how to manage the problems and conditions they face.
Take, for example, a driver who encounters heavy traffic after experiencing little to no traffic on a highway. It would not be reasonable for that driver to continue to operate their vehicle at a high rate of speed. A reasonable driver would slow down, exercise vigilance to prevent rear-end collisions and other maneuvering hazards and use caution when changing lanes. If the driver elected to speed, follow too closely or weave in and out of traffic, their actions might not be deemed reasonable under the circumstances.
Every car accident case should be assessed on its own facts and this post does not offer its readers any advice on how to approach their own legal matters. Duty, negligence and personal injury matters should be reviewed with the help of dedicated attorneys who make car accident representation a part of their practices.