The blizzard of 2009 passed through my neck of the woods, dumping over 20 inches of snow on my house (and my car) starting Friday night and ending Saturday night. This is the largest snowfall we’ve had since the blizzard of 1996. In both 1996 and 2009, I was fortunate enough not be traveling at the time (as you can tell by my snow-covered car). Unfortunately, thousands of our citizens and residents were, with many of them ending up in car accidents.

Reading through the news today, the accident totals are just mind boggling. Here is just a sample of the accident totals I’ve read about:

Surry County, NC:  More than 300 accidents
Haywood County, NC:  Almost 1,000 accidents
Virginia:  More than 2,900 accidents

It is hard to put all the blame on the drivers, as blizzard conditions can mask road hazards such as black ice, potholes, unmarked or poorly marked lanes, and so on. However, much the drivers share the bulk of the burden for driving too fast, breaking too hard, tailgating, and simply being on the road when they didn’t need to be. Many of these accidents are easily avoidable, but result in increased insurance premiums for them and us alike. Hopefully they were carrying quality car insurance at the time.

These accidents remind me of the 100-car pile-up in Virginia back in 2001. A sudden whiteout masked I-95 Southbound in the Prince William County/Stafford County region. What started out as a single accident between a car and a semi led to a chain reaction of 100 cars running into the cars in front of them due to the lack of visibility and slippery road conditions. I had an employee who was traveling Southbound at the time who was stuck behind the mess, taking my employee an additional three hours till they made it home.

In the future folks, please pay attention to the road conditions, and stay home if at all possible. If you do have to go on the road, turn on your headlights (not just your daytime running lights), slow down, and keep a wide gap between you and the car in front of you. Responsible driving will reduce your odds of getting into a car accident and save your money in the long run.

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