The American Auto Association reports that 1.2 million motor vehicle accidents are caused by wet weather crashes a year. Tennessee drivers can take precautions to avoid accidents during rainy springtime weather, and staying alert and being ready to take action is most important when driving under these types of conditions.

When pavement is dry, a minimum of two seconds should be between a vehicle and the one in front of it. This space should be larger when the pavement is wet even if it is no longer raining, and there should be four seconds between a vehicle and the one in front of it on wet pavement. This could give a motorist enough room to prevent a collision when the roads are wet or slick.

What a driver does regardless of the weather can have an impact on a vehicle while it is raining. Potholes can mess with a vehicle’s alignment and harm the wheels and tires, which can then make driving in the rain harder. Motorists should break before going over potholes when they are unavoidable. This helps slow the car down and avoid damage to the wheels. Tires also need to be correctly aligned and have the proper tread so that the vehicle can stop quickly when the pavement is wet.

A motorist may not be responsible for a car accident when weather conditions make driving difficult and lead to a wreck. However, drivers might be deemed negligent when not taking the proper precautions during bad weather, such as the failure to slow down to a safe speed when rain or snow makes a roadway slippery and harder to drive on.