The Act of God Defense
When someone is in a wreck while driving in bad weather, they may be able to use the Act of God Doctrine as a defense. This is an affirmative defense in court. The act of God defense can be pled by defendants, which means the wreck was caused by the extreme weather conditions and there was no way to avoid the accident. To prove this defense, they have to show that they took all the reasonable precautions to avoid the wreck.
However, if a person is driving in heavy rain and their car starts to hydroplane and they hit someone, it would not qualify as an act of God defense. This is because God did not make the driver operate their vehicle during those conditions. A person can choose to stay off the roads. An example of an act of God defense would be if a thunderstorm quickly develops into a tornado and starts throwing cars around.