Who's at Fault for a Car Accident Due to Bad Roads?

Large pools of water, potholes, and other problems common on the nation's roads can cause accidents. But are they just accidents? Or is someone at fault when these bad road conditions occur? Sometimes they are in fact due to improperly designed or maintained roads, and you may want to talk with a lawyer after a car accident on a bad road.
Common Bad Road Conditions

Roads are supposed to be safe. Everyone involved in building and maintaining them has a responsibility to ensure they are, but that does not always happen. Engineers miscalculate, contractors cut corners, and towns fail to take corrective action regarding particularly hazardous stretches of road.

Water and ice are not the only potential hazards you may encounter on roads. There may also be:

    Blind curves
    Shoulder drop-offs
    Potholes
    Wrong slope (grade)

These problems and more can cause drivers to lose control of their cars and get into accidents. If your wheel hits a drop off, the resulting bounce may make it hard to stay in control of the car. Water collecting on an improperly graded road increases your risk of hydroplaning. In fact, a 2009 report suggests that bad road conditions may contribute to more than half the highway fatalities in the nation.

Ideally, these bad roads would not exist. Since they do, hazards need to be clearly marked, and failure to do so further increases the risk of a car accident.
Who Is At Fault for Bad Roads?

The driver may share some responsibility—after all, you are supposed to pay attention to the road in front of you and notice things like potholes or water—but the people or companies responsible for building and maintaining them can also be held responsible. These entities may include, for instance:

    The road crew that did not post sufficient warning of construction ahead
    The municipality that ignored repeated requests for signs or signals at an intersection or other stretch of road with a high accident rate
    The engineer who designed the road that collects water after rains or one with a blind curve
    The transportation department that failed to put up signs warning of hazardous conditions after a rain
    The state that did not fix the potholes in a timely manner
    The construction company that decides to cut corners on materials

An auto accident attorney or personal injury lawyer can help you determine if you have a case against any of these people or companies after a car accident due to bad roads.

LAWYER Auto Accidents

If you've recently been in an auto accident, you may be concerned about working with insurance companies, recovering from any injuries you suffered, and repairing your car. But if you were the victim in an automobile accident, you should also be thinking about whether an auto accident lawyer can help you recover money to pay your accident-related bills and compensate you for pain and suffering.

When an accident is serious enough to cause fatal or severe injuries, or if alcohol was involved, the state will probably prosecute the driver who was at fault. But for all other car accidents, you, the other driver, and your insurance companies may be left to deal with medical bills and car repair expenses. Often these issues are ultimately resolved in court.

Causes of Automobile Accidents

There are many causes of automobile accidents. Among the more common:

• Distracted drivers, including drivers who are talking on the phone or texting, rubbernecking other accidents, fiddling with music, looking at the scenery, and paying attention to other passengers
• Drowsy drivers, including those who have been behind the wheel for more than two hours, those who are driving late at night or after a heavy meal, and those who have taken medicines that may cause drowsiness
• Impaired drivers, even if the driver isn't over the legal blood-alcohol limit
• Speeding
• Driving aggressively, including tailgating, failing to yield the right of way, yelling or making rude gestures at other drivers, ignoring traffic signals, and changing lanes frequently
• Weather, including rain, snow, fog, ice, sleet, and wind

If You Are an Automobile Accident Victim

Victims in an automobile accident may include the car's driver, passengers, by-standers, and even the spouse of an injured person.

All auto-accident victims may be able to recover money from the other driver, the owner of the car, and even the driver's employer to pay for the damage to your car, your current and future medical bills, and any permanent injuries you may have suffered. You may even be able to get punitive damages, which are designed to punish the other driver for his or her action.

If you are contacted by the other driver's insurance company, you do not need to provide them with any information other than your basic contact information. Nor should you feel pressured to provide them with an immediate description of your injuries. A personal injury lawyer who handles auto accident injuries can help you negotiate with the other driver's insurance company or decide whether your case should be heard in court.

Settlements, compensation and hiring a burn injury lawyer

he skin is the largest organ of the body, providing protections and functions which are critical to survival. A serious burn injury can be life-threatening and life-altering. According to the American Burn Association, more than 500,000 people are treated for burn injuries every year. Electricity, fire, hot liquids, chemicals and radiation exposure are just some of the causes of burn injuries.

Minor burns are usually treatable with basic first aid, but serious burn injuries can leave behind a lifetime of pain, scarring, disfigurement and disability. Accordingly, burn injury settlements can be sizeable. If you or a loved one has suffered a burn due to someone else's negligence, you may be entitled to compensation. Even if you don't think there is anyone to blame for the injury, it is important to consult a personal injury attorney to make sure your legal rights are protected.
Burn Injury Liability

Defective household and industrial products, flammable materials, a wreck in an automobile involving drunk driving, structural fires, gas explosions, workplace accidents and faulty electrical wiring are some of the most common causes of burn injuries. Frequently these accidents are the result of one or more parties' negligent or criminal acts. If someone else's action is partly or fully responsible for a burn injury, a legal claim may be filed for the following types of damages:

LAWYER CAR ACCIDENTS

Learn about compensation, settlements and hiring an
auto accident lawyer

Car accidents are a leading cause of unnecessary deaths and therefore the number one source of personal injury claims in the United States. In 2005, 6,087,000 cars were involved in accidents, according to a recent crash data report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This comprised 56.1 percent of all motor vehicle crashes. In that same year, fatal automobile accidents took the lives of 18,440 people, and injury accidents harmed another 1,573,000.

Accidentes de auto (texto en Español)

Many of the accidents occurred due to negligence on the part of one of the drivers involved. When a car accident is caused by another party's negligence, people who are harmed often reach settlements with the liable party which provide compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering as well as other damages.

In this article you will find information on the legal issues associated with car accidents. To obtain further information, you should contact a car accident attorney who can help evaluate your specific situation and determine your legal rights.
Car Accidents and the Law

As a legal matter, a car accident occurs when a passenger car (convertible, sedan or station wagon) is involved in an event or series of events that causes harm, such as property damage, traumatic brain injury and/or death. In 2005, 82 percent of car crashes involved a collision with another motor vehicle and the other 18 percent involved collisions with stationary objects and other non-motorized objects, according to the NHTSA. Most of these motor vehicle accidents involved an element of negligence, corresponding with a traffic law violation. If you have been arrested for driving under the influence in conjunction with a motor vehicle accident, you will want to speak with a qualified defense lawyer — regardless of whether it's a DUI first offense or repeat offense.
Negligence

To be compensated by either an insurance company or a court award, negligence usually must be proven. Negligence is a legal term that means someone has failed to act in a reasonably careful and responsible manner. In the case of a car crash, negligence is found in facts derived from the police report, eyewitness testimony, expert witness testimony, photographs and sketches of the crash scene. Proving negligence means showing that:

    Someone's carelessness caused the car accident
    The car accident caused harm and
    The party at fault is responsible for paying compensation for the harm done

If more than one party involved in the accident is at fault, liability may be distributed among the negligent parties according to percentage of fault. This is called comparative negligence.
Compensation for Car Accidents

Receiving compensation usually means having your property repairs, medical expenses, lost income, physical and psychological pain and, if applicable, lost prospects paid for by the negligent party or parties. Insurance adjustors and juries typically use standard formulas to come up with a dollar value for car accident settlements.

No-fault insurance laws affect settlements in some states. In general, these laws prevent injury claims and lawsuits from being filed in trivial accidents. While they usually guarantee immediate insurance payment for medical expenses and lost wages, many other expenses are not covered. If you have been the victim of a car accident in a no-fault insurance state and have not been fully compensated for your losses, a lawyer can help determine if you are eligible for additional compensation.
Factors Contributing to Car Accidents

A number of factors contribute to car accidents, and many are the result of some form of negligence. Some of the most common are:

Driving While Distracted. Distracted drivers account for approximately 80 percent of auto accidents and 65 percent of near accidents, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Each year, motorists cause thousands of driving accidents while texting, making cell phone calls, putting on makeup and performing other tasks. Many states have outlawed texting while driving, and/or driving while talking on handheld devices.

Traffic Law Violations. Most car accidents can be traced to negligence in the form of one or more traffic violations. Common violations include speeding, tailgating, improper lane changing, and failing to yield the right of way. When a traffic citation is issued at the scene of a car accident, any claims are strengthened.

Driver Error. Driver error is the cause of most traffic violations leading to car accidents. Factors contributing to driver error include fatigue, drowsiness, distractions (cell phone use, eating, etc.), inattention, intoxication (drugs, alcohol, medications) and aggressive driving. A study conducted by Virginia Tech University in 2006 showed 80 percent of motor vehicle crashes involved distraction, fatigue or looking away from the road. The same study showed that 93 percent of rear-end collisions occurred as a consequence of inattention. Note that harm caused by driving under the influence is not just a criminal violation — it can also be grounds for a civil suit.

Equipment Failure. Mechanical failures leading to car accidents often involve brakes, tires, steering mechanisms or suspension. A malfunction might point to negligence on the part of the owner or operator of the car, a mechanic or auto repair shop or the manufacturer for designing flawed equipment (e.g., seatbelts, airbags or roofs). Some of the best known cases of equipment failure involve manufacturer design flaws and often result in class action lawsuits involving large settlements. If you suspect equipment failure or a manufacturing defect contributed to an accident you were involved in, be sure to retain possession of your car so that it can be used as evidence in a trial, if necessary.

Road Conditions. Road conditions can be affected by weather, road construction, debris on the roadway and other factors. When road conditions contribute to car accidents, negligence is often involved. Sometimes the government is the negligent party. For example, if a dangerous pothole has gone without repair for an extended length of time, the government may be liable. There are specific rules and time limits for filing a car accident claim with a government entity. For more information, you will need to contact a car accident attorney.

Road Design.F lawed road design can involve intersections, merging lanes, traffic control devices and other factors. When the design of the road is a contributing factor in a car accident, the government may be liable.
When You Might Need a Personal Injury Attorney

Insurance companies frequently handle routine car accident claims, the majority of which involve property damage only. However, accidents involving serious forms of injury, such as closed head injury, often require assistance that only a personal injury attorney can provide. In these situations, a lawyer for injury victims can help determine your rights and facilitate any claims you may have to compensation greater than the initial settlement. They include the following:

    The insurance company won't pay the full cost of property damage, medical expenses, lost income, psychological pain and lost prospects. Many of these types of claims are made against insurance companies in no-fault states.
    The insurance company delays settling a claim. Each state has a statute of limitations for filing personal injury claims, so beware of allowing insurance claims to drag on too long.
    The insurance company denies a claim (Sometimes the insurance company of the other party involved in the accident will claim their insured was not at fault or that the insured's policy did not cover the accident.)
    The party at fault does not have insurance.