Unfortunately, accidents that result from road construction are far too common and often result from negligence on the part of the construction company. Let’s take a look at what you need to know if you or someone you love is a victim of road construction negligence.
Proving Negligence in Road Construction Accidents
Road construction accidents can cause injuries to passing drivers as well as the construction workers on site. In both types of personal injury lawsuits, you need to prove that the construction company was somehow negligent and therefore responsible for the injuries. Proving a construction company’s negligence involves the following three elements.
Duty to Maintain a Safe Construction Zone
Construction companies have a duty to keep their construction zones safe for both their construction workers and passing motorists. In court cases, there may be dissent on what creating and maintaining a safe construction zone actually means. There are generally two ways to address this issue, the first of which is that the construction company must comply with state and federal safety regulations.
Secondly, construction companies may also need to take additional reasonable measures to ensure their construction zone is safe. When you take your personal injury case to court, an expert witness can speak on your behalf as to what additional measures the company should have taken that would have prevented your injuries.
Failure to Keep This Duty
Any time a construction company fails in their duty to keep their construction zone safe, they may be considered negligent. And if this negligence results in one of their workers or a motorist being injured, they may also be held liable for those injuries.
Damages Caused by This Failure
In order to win your personal injury case and receive compensation for your losses, you must prove that the construction company acted negligently and that their negligence caused your accident. In these types of cases, you’re most likely fighting for compensation for losses such as your medical bills, property damage to your vehicle, pain and suffering, wages lost due to your injuries and decreased quality of life.
Frequent Mistakes That Cause Road Construction Accidents
A variety of mistakes can cause road construction car accidents, but the most common mistakes leading to injury include turns that are too sharp for motorists, insufficient warning of upcoming construction and dangerous pavement conditions. In all three of these cases, motorists need an ample amount of warning time before they reach the hazardous area. Again, you must prove that the construction company’s negligence caused your accident.
To demonstrate, let’s say that the construction company posts a warning sign before a turn cautioning drivers to take the turn at no more than 45 miles per hour. If you take the turn at this speed and get into an accident, you may be able to prove the company’s negligence if you can prove that the turn should not be taken at speeds greater than 35 miles per hour.
If, however, you take the turn at 60 miles per hour and get into an accident, it’s unlikely that you can prove the company’s negligence caused your accident since your speeding caused the accident, whether or not 45 miles per hour was the safest highest speed for that turn.
Contact a Professional Attorney to Assist You With Your Case
As with any personal injury case, your best option is to enlist the assistance of an experienced attorney. Road construction accidents in particular may require legal expertise since they can involve pursuing cases against your local or state government. Contact one of our experts at McMahan Law Firm if you or someone you know is a victim of a road construction accident in the Chattanooga area.
