December 15, 2007

How Can I Get Money When There Was No Other Vehicle Involved in My Accident?

If you have been in a bicycle or motorcycle accident and there was not another vehicle involved, the chances are most attorneys wonÔøt touch your case with a ten foot pole. However, there are a few lawyers in Los Angeles who may be interested if they understand how to recover damages for two wheeled single vehicle collisions in California injury cases. Single vehicle collisions can happen from grooved or gauged pavement, deviations in the roadways, such as a shoulder, construction zone pavement that is temporary, gravel that is kicked up or loose, an oil slick, a poorly designed roadway or substantially changed conditions in a street to name just a few. If for example, your bicycle or motorcycle runs over a pothole, you could very easily lose control of your vehicle and be killed, or seriously injured. The first step is to identify the defect causing the injury in roadway. Obviously, if an injured victim was not wearing proper safety equipment, or abiding by the rules of the road, this presents a comparative negligence issue. Assuming you have identified the defect, you may need to retain an expert witness to testify as to the conditions and who is liable. This could include a bio mechanist, and engineer and even a life care planner. These are fairly expensive cases to litigate due to the costs of the experts alone. You will need a client who can testify as to the speed wobbles, loss of traction and the mechanics of the accident in general. You will need to locate public records via public records requests, conduct all pre litigation discovery before you put any tortfeasors on notice and gather photos and any other evidence such as witness statements. California Government Code Section 6250 explains how to do a public records request. You can use the Sunshine Act to order the SWITRS and TASA reports from the CHP, and possibly do a FOIA request.

Who Can I Sue for a Single Vehicle Collision?

You have a plethora of potential defendants to sue. You could possibly go after Cal Trans, or sue the city, State, or municipal agencies responsible for the defective roadways. Sometimes a general contractor.

Steps to Take in Suing for a Single Two Wheeled Vehicle Accident

(1) Determine who owned or controlled the injury causing roadway; (2) Identify the actual defect itself; (3) If more than one defect, isolate each one and see if it was all defects combined that caused the injury producing event; (4) Isolate who is responsible for creating the event or combination of events; (5) Make sure you have hired experts with knowledge of motorcycle and bicycle accidents in general.

Could my Roadway Defect Case Involve a Premises Liability Component?

Assuming it is a construction zone, maintenance issue, or obstruction like a barricade, and not a government entity, you could potentially sue the wrongdoer for premises liability under ordinary negligence principles.

Design Immunity Pitfalls

When you sue a government entity, they will throw up a design immunity defense to get your Two wheeled single vehicle collisions involving motorcycles or bicycles thrown out of court. The elements are (1) a causal relationship between the plan and the accident; (2) discretionary approval of the plan prior to construction; and (3) substantial evidence supporting reasonableness of the designed (Ca. Gov. Code Sec. 830.6 et seq.) But design immunity does not immune decisions that were not made. (See e.g., Cameron v. State of California (1972) 7 Cal. 3d 318, 326.) This means the government entity must first establish that when the plan was approved, the specific injury causing conditions were contemplated as part of the overall design. This brings us back to the combination of factors issue. If there was a combination of factors and one or most were not contemplated you can defeat the defense outright. Beyond that, the public entity must also be able to prove that there was an "actual informed exercise of discretion" (Levin v. State of California (1983) 146 Cal.App.3d 410, 418.) These are just a few of the potential ways to defeat immunity. The bottom line is that you need to contact an experienced California attorney to learn more. Many of these events take place in Los Angeles, California. This means you should speak to a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer before taking steps to recover damages for two wheeled single vehicle collisions involving motorcycles or bicycles.

Substantially Changed Conditions

Design immunity can be extinguished if there was a "substantially changed condition" (Cornette v. Dept. of Transportation (2001) 26 Cal.4th 63.) If your attorney can produce this evidence, he can shift the burden to the public entity. Keep in mind you need to show the government defendant had actual or constructive notice of the changed condition prior to the injury. Two wheeled single vehicle collision are tough to litigate. If you are not feint of heart and have a large bank rolled attorney, and serious injuries the benefits in suing outweigh the risks.

Ehline Legal News