No: The bad winter weather, say, ice on the roads, is the cause of the accidents. If happen to have a winter with little or no snow or ice, then the number of auto accidents will go down no matter what the latitude: So, latitude can't be the cause; ice and snow on the roads is the cause. So, if live in a lower latitude, say, closer to the equator, and get a freak winter snow storm with a lot of ice and snow on the roads, the we will see auto accidents in spite of the latitude.
For indirect causation, I just said winter weather to try to be brief. But, sure, the cause is the ice and snow on the roads, not just the weather in some vague sense. I was trying to keep the explanation simple, avoid discussing indirect causation, and concentrate on the OP issue of causation versus correlation.
For indirect causation, I just said winter weather to try to be brief. But, sure, the cause is the ice and snow on the roads, not just the weather in some vague sense. I was trying to keep the explanation simple, avoid discussing indirect causation, and concentrate on the OP issue of causation versus correlation.