Car Accident Attorney in Spokane, Washington

Car Accidents in Spokane

Spokane's continental climate produces severe winter driving conditions from November through March, including heavy snowfall, black ice on bridges and overpasses, and freezing fog that can reduce visibility to near zero. The city receives an average of 45 inches of snow per year, and temperature fluctuations cause freeze-thaw cycles that degrade road surfaces and create pothole hazards. The I-90 corridor through downtown Spokane is the primary east-west transportation artery for the entire inland Northwest, carrying heavy commercial truck traffic alongside local commuters year-round.

Washington follows pure comparative negligence, meaning injured drivers can recover damages even if they were mostly at fault, with compensation reduced by their percentage of responsibility. Washington has a 3-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims (RCW 4.16.080). The state requires minimum liability insurance of 25/50/10, which is often inadequate for covering the full cost of serious crash injuries in Spokane's medical market.

Dangerous Intersections and Highways

The I-90 and US-395 interchange on Spokane's south hill is a high-crash location where merging traffic from the US-395 freeway meets I-90 through-traffic at speed. Division Street (US-395 business route) through the north side of the city is Spokane's most crash-prone surface street corridor, with heavy commercial traffic, numerous unsignalized driveways, and high pedestrian activity producing frequent turning and crossing collisions. The intersection of Francis Avenue and Division Street is one of the busiest and most dangerous in the city. The Maple Street Bridge and the Monroe Street Bridge, which cross the Spokane River gorge, experience icy conditions earlier than surrounding roads due to their elevated exposure, causing winter spin-outs and rear-end collisions.