Did A Pothole Cause Your Accident? - What's Next?

If you are like most people, as the weather warms up, you pull your motorcycle out of winter storage and put it back on the road. While you may be excited about getting some wind in your hair, there are road hazards that you must make sure you are aware of. One of the major hazards that can cause damage to your bike, as well as major injuries or even death, are potholes. But if you end up going down due to one, who is to blame? That answer may be more complicated than you think.

You Must First Figure Out Who Is Responsible For That Particular Road

Within any given city there may be multiple authorities that are responsible for maintaining the roads. Some of these include:

The State - This may be listed as your DOT or department of transportation. They are usually responsible for all interstates and state routes no matter whether they are marked or unmarked. These may be located inside, as well as outside city limits. Although interstates are often constructed using federal funds, their upkeep is usually performed by the state they are located in. 

The County - Depending on the state you live in, your county may have an agency that is responsible for the unincorporated roads in your area. These may be listed as county routes, roads, or highways. These may be abbreviated as CH or CR.

The City - Most towns and cities have their own street maintenance divisions. These divisions may only be responsible for those streets that are within incorporated areas or within city limits.

You Must Then Figure Out How To File A Claim

Once you have figured out who is responsible for the stretch of road that caused the damage, you must still figure out how to get them to pay your claim. If you are planning to file a personal injury suit as a result of the accident, many governmental agencies require you to file a notice of claim. This makes the governmental agency aware that you have suffered an accident and gives them the opportunity to address it prior to you filing your suit.

It is really important that this action is filed as quickly as possible, as some states have a statute of limitations on this filing that will only give you as few as 60 days following your accident to get it filed. If it is not filed within this time period, you may give up or waive your right to file a lawsuit.

Your Claim Must Then Overcome Certain Hurdles

Once you file your claim or lawsuit, there are certain hurdles you may still have to overcome before you will be able to collect. You probably will not address these questions, but you can rest assure that some of these will factor in the accused defense.

• Did the entity that was responsible for the road know that a pothole was present?
• Did they understand the extent of a hazard that the pothole presented?
• If so, how long had they been aware, and did they have time to fix it once they were made aware?

Unfortunately, when filing suit against a governmental or public entity, cases are not always clear cut. These types of cases are normally aggressively defended as the entity is not usually willing to accept any level of liability. Each case will have to be tried on a case-by-case basis. Hiring an experienced and knowledgeable motorcycle accident attorney will give you the best chance of winning. They will not only know the law, but they will also know how your local courts operate and the type of challenges opposing council may pose.