my car aquaplaned off the road after hitting a large pool of water on the inside lane of a dual carriage way.There was no advanced warning of the standing water on the road.This may have been caused by poor maintenace of the surface water system allowing the surface water to build up on the highway. Should highways have put out advanced warning signs? Do highways have a responsability to keep the roads clear of standing water?
2007-02-28 04:17:12 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Slow down and it wouldnt be a problem. You should be aware of the chances of standing water if you have had a large amount of rain. Its called driving too fast for conditions.
2007-02-28 04:24:07 · answer #1 · answered by mnwomen 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The first thing to do is to find out from the council if the road is maintainable at public expense, ie is it an adopted highway, if it is you can make a claim against them however they do have a defense to such claims that can be quite difficult to overcome providing they can show they have taken reasonable care. To claim you have to show that the defect was dangerous which is not always as easy as it sounds as the nature and location of the defect is taken in to account when doing this for example a small pothole in a minor country lane may not be considered dangerous but the same pothole in the centre of town could be, established case law does state that the highway should not be compared to a bowling green, the same principal would apply to suitable drainage of the highway. If you can win this part of the battle the council will then fall back on its statutory defence that it took reasonable care, they normally do this by demonstrating that they have undertaken regular inspections of the highway and the defect was not there when they last inspected it and therefore did not know about the defect. Another factor to consider is if you use the road on a regular basis and possibly knew the problem existed was there or there were often such defects then a judge may consider that you should have taken care. If you wish to claim I would suggest you try a lawyer on a no win no fee basis if they wont take it forward you will have a good indication that you stand little chance of success. The Council do have a duty of care but only as far as is reasonably practical.
2007-03-01 10:26:14 · answer #2 · answered by grahamralph2000 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Questions arise here:
1. Was the standing water there for a long time?
2. Had there been a flash flood?
3. Did the Highways Authority have time to get signs out?
4. What speed were you travelling at and what was the speed limit?
5. Was there a problem with tyres
6. Is it a maintenance problem?
2007-02-28 04:29:35 · answer #3 · answered by MANCHESTER UK 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can sue. Wether you win is debatable.Lots of questions you'd have to answer and proove. Was it raining? did it rain for a long time ? Whats is/was the state of your tires ?How fast were you going? How long did you drive in the rain? How fast were you travelling taking in account the conditions of the road and weather ? Frost heaving and other conditions may have affected the road over a few years so that standing water may occur. In rain you would have noticed that depending on your speed. Did other accidents happen at that time in that place? At other times with the same conditions?
How large, deep was that one puddle of standing water? Lots of questions. If the Dept of Highways was avoidably negligent in any way then you may win.
They can't be putting up signs at enery puddle but if you have one 6" deep and youve been driving through shallower ones at the posted limit,or heaven forbid above the speed limit, well, I wish you luck..
2007-02-28 04:46:27 · answer #4 · answered by reinformer 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can sue all you want but unless something has changed highways and the many materials they are made from generally don't have much money. If you mean you want to sue the department of transportation or whom ever is in charge of maintaining the roads in the area I'd say you'd have a better chance of not looking quite as ill educated.
2007-02-28 04:27:15 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Graham has got this just about right. As a lawyer, I'd estimate your prospects of success at less than 20%. Ignore those eejits telling you to sue and involve the media; the media don't give a monkey's and if you sue you'll almost certainly lose.
2007-03-02 00:42:22 · answer #6 · answered by JZD 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you really did aquaplane, you were going too fast for the road conditions. You can sue, of course but I think you'd lose based on what you've said.
2007-02-28 04:33:11 · answer #7 · answered by michael w 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
More likely it was caused by your driving too fast for the road condirions.
Retake your driving test and learn to take responsibility for your own actions instead of trying to blame someone else.
2007-02-28 04:25:53 · answer #8 · answered by Leo 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ahh yes your tax dollars at work ..you can sue , maybe win , but they will win in the long run ,because you would be suing for money, that is funded by taxpayers , you win they raise taxes to make the settlement money back
2007-02-28 04:24:13 · answer #9 · answered by Insensitively Honest 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, yes, you could sue. But why enrich the lawyers? Make complaints and threaten to go to the media.
2007-02-28 04:26:06 · answer #10 · answered by mischugenah 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋