Zenith Insurance Co. wants the city of Newport Beach to pay for injuries that a man sustained when he fell off a Segway scooter. The insurance company says city officials are to blame for the hazardous condition that caused Terry Bye to fall on his elbow, left hand, and right knee.
Bye got hurt while guiding tourists close to the Back Bay. He fell on New Year's Eve in an area where a dirt path and an asphalt roadway come together. The insurance company says that Bye cut his knee, sustained other sprains, and now suffers from carpal tunnel injury as a result of the California roadway defect.
Bye has received over $10,000 in California workers' compensation benefits. This amount is expected to grow.
Defective Roadway Claims
It is not unusual for a person injured in an accident involving a defective roadway condition to pursue a claim against an Orange County, California city for damages. City officials may try to counter the claim with the argument that there is no reason why they should not have been aware that a roadway's condition was unsafe or hazardous.
A recent study by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation found that over half of US highway deaths involved a deficient roadway condition--that's over 22,000 fatalities--and each minute, 10 roadway-related crashes happen. Roadway defects also are a factor in 38% of highway injuries.
There are steps that government officials can take to make roads safer, and they can be held liable if they should have known that a certain road condition was causing (or could cause injury) yet they did nothing to remedy the situation.
Orange County, California personal injury and wrongful death accidents can occur as a result of a number of roadway defects, such as:
• Debris that wasn't cleared out
• Too much gravel
• Too much oil
• Potholes
• Malfunctioning signals or signs
• Improperly designed roads
• Shoulder drop-offs
• Inadequate lighting
• Failure to provide proper notification of merging traffic
• Failure to properly mark construction zones
• Malfunctioning or inadequate traffic signs
Company wants $10,000 from city for man's Segway crash injuries, OC Register, July 8, 2009
More than Half of Highway Fatalities Are Related to Deficient Roadway Conditions, PR Newswire, July 1, 2009
Related Web Resources:
Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation
In Newport Beach, Irvine, Laguna, and elsewhere in Southern California, an experienced Orange County, California car accident law firm can help you file your personal injury claim.
