When Road Debris Cause Car Accidents
Road debris can be a factor in causing car accidents. Road debris can consist of fallen trees, deep puddles, exploded tires and car parts, forgotten construction barriers and many other types of safety hazards. In fact, road debris and safety hazards cause hundreds if not thousands of motor vehicle accidents in Miami and Broward each year. In this blog post, we will discuss road debris and safety hazards and explain how they can cause car accidents in South Florida.
What Happens When Road Debris Cause a Car Accident?
It is generally recognized that street intersections are places of danger which require those who traverse them to exercise care commensurate with the circumstances and surrounding conditions. Vegetation growing along the roadside or on abutting property can pose special, and sometimes unrecognized, hazards to drivers. In particular, foliage has the capacity to reduce driver sight distance at curves and intersections and to obscure signs. When vision at an intersection is obstructed, the intersection becomes a place of particular danger requiring extra vigilance and caution on the part of drivers using the intersection. When an accident occurs at such an intersection, there may be driver negligence for failure to exercise the appropriate degree of care under the circumstances. However, an injured party may also seek to hold an abutting property owner or a governmental entity liable for negligently failing to adequately trim the vegetation. In some cases, the injured person may bring suit against the driver whose negligence allegedly caused the accident, and the driver may therefore bring a third-party claim against a landowner or municipality alleging that its failure to trim vegetation caused or contributed to the accident. A private property owner who allows vegetation on property abutting an intersection to obscure the vision of drivers approaching the intersection may have no duty to remedy these conditions. The insulation of such property owners from tort liability is a consequence of the traditional rule that the possessor of land is under no affirmative duty to remedy conditions of purely natural origin upon his land. This common-law rule originated in times when much land remained unclear and any duty placed upon a landowner to cut or remove vegetation on their property would have been an onerous one.
Factors That Help Establish Liability in Car Accidents Caused By Road Debris The following is a list of factors which may be relevant in establishing liability on the part of a property the owner for causing or permitting the existence of an obstruction to visibility on land adjacent to an intersection:
- Location and nature of intersection
- Angles at which streets intersect
- Nature and volume of traffic on intersecting streets
- Existence of traffic signs or signals at or near intersection
- Lighting and weather conditions at time and place of accident
- Defendant’s relationship to land on which obstruction was located
- Degree of development of general area in which intersection is located
- Amount of land possessed by defendant
- Amount of vegetation on defendant’s land
- Size and type of the adjacent roadway
- Amount of traffic on the roadway
- Nature of obstruction to visibility at intersection
- Whether defendant exercised care in maintaining vegetation
- Whether obstruction is obvious to persons on defendant’s land
- Whether obstruction is obvious to motorists approaching intersection
- Whether obstruction became unreasonably dangerous through deterioration
- Extent of time during which obstruction existed
Let Our Miami accident lawyer Help! Schedule a Free Consultation Today! After a car accident, you may be worried that you will be unable to find a responsible party to pay for your injury. Sadly, it is difficult to determine liability in a debris-related motor vehicle accident. As such, if fault cannot be placed on another party, you will have to rely on your own insurance to cover the cost of any injuries or damage to your car. The duties imposed by law are a way to protect drivers and passengers on the road. If you or someone you love were injured in a car accident of any kind, our top-rated personal injury lawyers can help. Having an experienced personal injury lawyer fighting for you can mean the difference between winning top dollar for your claim and receiving no compensation at all. Our attorneys are ready to provide proven legal representation and stand ready to protect your rights. We are available 24/7 to give you a free, no risk case consultation!
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