Personal Injury Law

When a Dangerous Condition on Public Roads Causes a Motorcycle Accident; What Do You Do?

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq.

I have handled many motorcycle accidents that were caused solely by dangerous conditions on public roads and highways. Many bikers and motorcyclists don't realize it, but when a dangerous condition on a public road causes a motorcycle accident, in many circumstances a public entity might be responsible not only for the accident, but for your damages that result therefrom.

These types of accidents are not your garden-variety rear renderer, left-hand turn, or vehicle on vehicle accidents. A motorcycle accident due to a dangerous condition on a public road is a much more complicated type of case.

I have handled cases that run the gambit of dangerous conditions on public roads such as; potholes on the road that made the road look like a moonscape; large sinkholes on public streets; stop sign hidden by brush; rock like outcroppings on what should be a smooth street; construction crews failing to warn motorists that they were doing construction ahead, etc.

The reason these types of cases are complicated is because they don't have a simple defendant or two, and their insurance company to deal with. In these types of motorcycle accident cases, 99% of the time you'll be going after a public entity such as a city, county, or even a state. If the accident occurred on federal property such as a military base, you might be going after the federal government. In this article I will only be dealing with a state claims, or public entities within states.

One thing is for certain, if you are the victim of this type of accident, whereby the accident was due to a dangerous condition on public roads, or highways, you'll need to retain a competent attorney that knows how to deal with such claims.

You are not going to want to hire a personal injury firm that is a settlement mill, or a firm that advertises that they handle motorcycle accidents, but have no attorneys that actually ride motorcycles. You are going to want to hire experienced motorcycle accident attorneys that not only ride motorcycles and are familiar with dangerous conditions on public roads, but are also experienced in doing with such claims against governmental entities, as well as lawsuits against governmental entities.

My law firm has handled many such claims against governmental entities all over the state of California. The bottom line is that not only motorcyclists, but all motorists whether they were riding in cars or trucks, deserved to have a road, highway, or freeway that is free from dangerous conditions.

These are not the type of cases that a person who is injured wants to wait to retain an attorney on. You see you only have six months under the California Government code to file a claim against the governmental entity for your personal injuries, and property damage. If you fail to file a claim within six months, you may be apply to the governmental entity for leave to file a claim, however applications for leave to file a claim are almost always denied. In other words, if you don't file the claim against the governmental entity within six months, your shit out of luck and will have lost your ability to file a lawsuit for your injuries.

In my experience, 99.99% of all claims against governmental entities are either rejected or denied. If the governmental entity formally rejects a claim for personal injuries in writing, you'll then have only six months to file a lawsuit against that government entity. Basically, all such claims eventually result in us having to sue the governmental entity.

If you have suffered a personal injury whether it be due to a car accident, motorcycle accident, truck accident, or other motor vehicle accident, due to a dangerous condition in a public road, highway, or freeway in the state of California do not mess around. Call my office at 800-816-1529, extension 1. We will tell you over the phone if you have a good case.

By California motorcycle accident lawyer Norman Gregory Fernandez, © 2008

Full post as published by Biker Law Blog on September 10, 2008 (boomark / email).