Have you been injured because a road was designed poorly or not maintained properly? The government has a responsibility to design, construct and maintain roadways for the safe use by the public. If a roadway is unsafe and the dangerous condition causes an accident that results in injury or death, the public entity is liable. There is only one way to determine whether or not an accident or injury was caused by an unsafe roadway. The roadway and the accident must be evaluated by an experienced attorney who understands this unique area of the law.
Roadways are designed to safely accommodate the vehicles that will be used on the roadway at the speeds and under the traffic conditions that the designers of the roadway can expect to exist in the real life use of the roadway. Roadways are designed with “positive guidance systems” which include directions and warnings for the drivers. These are things like markings. signs, lights and sounds. Some roadways need to be designed so that drivers are protected from certain types of accidents. Examples are barriers on freeways, cushioning devices that help to slow a vehicle before it hits a barrier, and emergency lanes to keep stalled or damaged vehicles out of the high speed lanes of travel. Traffic studies are used to assist in identifying unsafe conditions on roadways. The traffic studies may indicate that a change needs to be made in the design or construction of a roadway, that new positive guidance systems need to be installed or that safety barriers need to be erected in certain areas of the roadways. As you can imagine, there are a wide variety of defects in the design, construction, maintenance, or control of roadways that could result in serious injury or death.
If you or a loved one have suffered serious injury or death as the result of a condition on a roadway, please contact us so that we can help you find out whether you or the loved one has been the victim of a defective roadway.