How to Determine If a Road Design Defect Caused an Accident
There are over 2.3 million miles of paved roads in the state of California and a staggering 20.3 billion is spent maintaining them. However statistics show that around 20% of all fatal accidents involve a single car that has run off the road. Government departments will argue that a lot of this is down to people driving without undue care and attention, however alarmingly road defect design cases are on the increase. If you believe that you have been a victim of road design defects in the state of California, then an experienced accident attorney may be able to help.
In the case of road design defects they can be notoriously difficult to prove as you are dealing with governmental departments who do their utmost to maintain watertight defenses. Claims such as these can prove time consuming, expensive and challenging. However successful cases can bring about changes that may in turn save lives. There are a plethora of instances that make up a defective road and they are things like dangerous curves in the road layout, defective or missing safety barriers, improper drainage that leads to slippery road surfaces, defective or total absence of warning signs, limited visibility at dangerous intersections, to name but a few.
As well as defective design, an accident attorney will also help you if you believe that your accident was caused by defective construction. Instances such as cracked or pitted roads due to shoddy workmanship and road erosion due to bad use of materials all fall under this category. The problem is that in most cases you are not dealing with individuals or even companies, you are dealing with a city who has more than enough resources and funding to fight your case all the way. Your accident lawyer will not only have to be resourceful but also be prepared to play smart.
A firm of Los Angeles accident lawyers who are well versed in such dealings will have a team of experts on hand to help your cause. Experts such as road traffic investigators, mechanics and metallurgists all play an important part in gathering evidence for your lawyer. Your Los Angeles accident attorney may well have to go back through past police and insurance records to ascertain whether any accidents similar in nature have occurred at that very same spot. They may also need to speak to key witnesses to your accident, all of whom will hep make a case for your claim.
Some of the questions that your road defect accident attorney may ask are things like… Did you lose control of your vehicle on a particular tight bend or curve? Was any malfunctioning signage such as faulty traffic lights the cause of your accident? Did a faulty road surface such as a pothole or dip trigger your accident? Dependent upon your answers the lawyer will then get to work ensuring that the site of the accident is photographed and thoroughly inspected and this is where your case begins to take shape.
All of these things will determine as to whether there is a strong case that a road design defect was indeed the cause of your accident.
Choosing the right Los Angeles accident attorney to fight your claim in a case such as this is a specialist job that not every accident lawyer in the city of Los Angeles can do. It requires dogged determination and tenacity against well financed governmental departments. The right lawyer should be prepared to fight your corner no matter how long it takes and as a result will deliver the right compensation package for you.
Author Bio: You can get more information at http://www.greenbergaccidentlawyer.com David Greenberg Law, 6100 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1170, Los Angeles, CA 90048, (323) 782-0500. The attorneys are experienced with all types of personal injury law in California and can help you determine if you have a case. Speak with a Los Angeles accident attorney with no cost.
Category: Legal
Keywords: Los Angeles, accident, attorney