One day, you’re driving along in the city of Atlanta when suddenly – bam! – you hit a pothole, damage your car, and are out hundreds, possibly even thousands, of dollars in repairs you never planned for. You may then ask yourself if you can sue the city if its road conditions lead to your accident.
Filing A Claim
If your car ends up damaged as the result of a neglected road, you may be entitled to file a lawsuit against the city that is responsible for maintaining that road. However, there are restrictions that may limit the amount you are able to collect on your claim.
An Atlanta car accident lawyer can help you draft a claim that provides sufficient justification for the claim you are making and the reward you may be entitled to. The key to filing a claim in this case is proving negligence, and our lawyers have the experience behind us and the necessary know-how to help you with your claim.
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Proving Negligence
If there is a major pothole or sinkhole in the middle of the road, then your first thought may be that the government has been negligible in getting it fixed. However, to prove negligence, you must have proof that the government knew about the problem and still did nothing to fix it.
For instance, if the road has been reported on several times in local media, but the road remained unfixed and broke your car, then this is solid evidence to support your case. However, even if this is not applicable to your situation, there are a number of other ways in which you may be able to prove negligence, including:
- Construction debris that was left in the road
- Poor, confusing, or no street signage
- Narrow roads
- The lack of a shoulder sufficient to aid motorists in avoiding pitfalls
The list of negligible claims goes on. And you may not even be aware of every type of negligence for which you could potentially file a claim. Let our experienced lawyers review your case so that we can help you decide what your next steps should be.
Comparative Negligence
Of course, in a negligence lawsuit, if one party is accusing the other of being negligent, then the other will fire back a similar claim. In this case, you may say the government was negligent for not fixing the road. The government may then counter, saying that you were partially at fault for the damage to your car because you didn’t avoid the pothole.
In some cases, the jury may find the plaintiff to be partially at fault. For instance, did she take the same road every morning to work? If so, then she should have noticed the pothole after passing it so many times, and she should have taken steps to avoid it. The fact that she chose to adjust the radio at the moment when she was close to the pothole means that she did not attempt to avoid it, and thus some of the blame lies with her.
This is another situation where the “the pothole was there for some time” defense may actually work against you. Yes, it was there so long that the government should have known about it – and fixed it – but if you know about it for so long, then why did you still end up hitting it?
Don’t let the government manipulate your case to try to get out of reimbursing you for the damage sustained to your vehicle. Let an Atlanta car accident lawyer help. Even if you were partially responsible for the accident, a good lawyer can make sure that you still receive a fair settlement under the law.
Looking To File A Lawsuit Against The City? Call Us First!
If poorly-kept roads have damaged your car, you have every right to be angry, and you may just decide to file a claim against the city. However, simply filing a lawsuit is no guarantee that you will be compensated for your damages. The government can just as easily say, “how could we have fixed the problem when we didn’t know about it?” What then?
An experienced car accident lawyer knows negligence laws inside and out. S/he also knows the possible defenses the government could use to try to escape restitution and the ways in which to combat those defenses.
Fill out the form to the right or call us at (404) 341-6555 to be connected with one of our skilled car accident lawyers. You will receive a free case evaluation with no obligation to retain. In fact, you don’t have to pay us a dime unless we win – so what do you have to lose? Call today!
(404) 400-4000 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
