While driving around South Florida, motorists are constantly confronted with roads containing potholes, dips, and other conditions of disrepair. Potholes are common on the streets and highways in South Florida, often causing motorists to swerve to avoid them and prevent damage to their cars. However, sometimes these road hazards go undetected, and when they’re unavoidable, serious accidents, and injuries, can result. The Miami car accidents at the Law Offices of Robert Dixon help victims of these collisions discover the underlying issues leading to their injuries as well as pursuing proper legal action against those responsible. Our firm represents people across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties, including in Miami, and West Palm Beach, assisting them in seeking the compensation that they are entitled to obtain from parties that have contributed to their harm. If you or a loved one has been injured in a motor vehicle accident caused by poor road maintenance,or a pothole, contact our office today to set up a free consultation to discuss your legal options.
Pothole Dangers
Constant road use, particularly by heavy vehicles such as trucks and buses, causes asphalt, which is the top layer of a road, to break down and thus form potholes. Weather, especially rainwater accumulation, can further erode the concrete and cause bigger, potentially more dangerous, potholes. Given the climate and population of South Florida, potholes occur regularly and can cause significant damage not only to cars, but also their occupants. Potholes put strain on a vehicle’s shock and suspension, which can cause a driver to lose control of a vehicle, and possibly veer into other lanes or oncoming traffic. Depending on the size of a vehicle, or the speed it is traveling, a car or truck can roll over, leading to catastrophic injuries or even the death of a driver or passenger. Injuries that may be sustained in these types of accidents include traumatic brain injuries, broken or fractured bones, neck or spinal cord injures, as well as scarring or disfigurement. Many of these serious injuries can lead to long-term recovery, and expensive treatment. Victims may be entitled to damages from the responsible parties.
Determining Liability For Pothole Accidents
Figuring out who is at fault for a pothole accident can be complicated. Generally, cities and local municipalities are required to perform proper maintenance to ensure the safety of the roads and highways. If a city, or another government entity, knows, or should have known, of a defect but failed to fix it, they can potentially be held liable for damages that result. Determining whether or not the government had knowledge, or took proper actions to indicate they should have had knowledge, of a hazard, may require extensive analysis into its practices or routines. Sometimes a private party could be responsible for maintaining a road or sidewalk that contains a pothole. Investigating the facts and circumstances surrounding pothole accidents is important to determine what party, or parties, may be liable.
Filing suit against a governmental body may also have different rules than generally apply to other personal injury or negligence suits. For instance, under Florida Statute 768.28, victims pursuing monetary damages against a government agency only have three years within which to file a claim, as opposed to the four-year statute of limitations generally applicable to other claims. After showing liability, a plaintiff may recover damages for property loss, past and future medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering.
Responsibility for Maintaining Roads and Highways
Public roadways and highways are maintained by the state or by local municipalities. These governmental entities are responsible for ensuring that roads are free from hazards that pose an unreasonable risk to motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists. Common dangerous road conditions that indicate a lack of proper maintenance include:
- Inaccurate, confusing, or damaged road signs
- Deep potholes and other broken or uneven pavement
- Curves or sharp turns lacking proper indicators
- Broken guardrails
Poor road maintenance may not be readily apparent in the aftermath of a collision. Often, when hazardous conditions are a factor contributing to an accident, a detailed investigation into the road conditions, including any foliage surrounding the road as well as markings and signage, is necessary to identify the parties responsible for causing a victim’s injuries. When governmental agencies are involved in litigation, special rules apply regarding liability associated with state and county officials. Some roadways also are owned by private individuals or entities that could be held liable if they acted negligently in maintaining their property, and that negligent act was a proximate cause of a motorist’s injuries.
A party responsible for a road’s upkeep may be held accountable for an accident and injuries found to be caused by debris, potholes, or weather erosion that was not properly addressed. Personal injury lawsuits based on negligence require a showing that a defendant owed a duty of care to the victim, that duty was breached, and that breach caused the victim’s injuries, resulting in damages. All property owners, including municipalities owning roads, have a duty to maintain property in a safe manner, free from dangerous conditions. Therefore, an individual or entity responsible for a road that has fallen into disrepair and resulted in a motorist’s injury could be held liable for failing to maintain a safe surface or failing to warn drivers of the hazard. If negligence is established, depending on the extent of their injuries, victims can receive compensation for past and future medical costs, lost income and earning capacity, and pain and suffering damages.
Even if a victim’s own negligence contributed to causing an accident, they are not barred from recovering compensation from other liable parties. Florida awards damages based on pure comparative fault, meaning that the amount of compensation distributed to a plaintiff is offset by the percentage of their own negligence. For instance, if a victim was determined to be 40 percent at fault for an accident, but another individual or entity was 60 percent liable for failing to maintain a road properly, the victim can receive that 60 percent remainder.
