Dangerous Condition of Public Property

Dangerous Condition of Public Property

When someone is hurt on public property because of an act of negligence, the government may be liable for the damages suffered.

The Dolan Law Firm has handled dozens of these cases against the owners of dangerous and defective roadways/sidewalks and public places, both private owners such as shopping centers as well public owners and government entities such as Cal Trans, the County of Sonoma, The County of Lake, Marin County, San Francisco County, The City of Sacramento, The Golden Gate Bridge and Transit District, The City of Santa Barbara, etc. The public roadways are owned and maintained either by Cal Trans (The California Department of Transportation) or a county and/or local government. Some roads/sidewalks and/or public places are owned by one entity and maintained by another. These are very expensive, and complex cases and should be handled only by lawyers with significant experience in this field, such as The Dolan Law Firm. The Dolan Law Firm has recovered millions of dollars for its clients as a result of dangerous and defective roadways/ sidewalks and public places.

The owner of a roadway/sidewalk or property has a duty to remedy any defect that it knew or should have known about which creates a dangerous condition of public property. Notice can be actual, someone informing the owner, or constructive, the condition has been there so long that the owner should have, in the exercise of reasonable caution, or through a reasonable inspection system, that the condition existed.

A condition must be more than trivial to create liability for damages to arise. Whether something is trivial or not depends on all of the circumstances surrounding not only the actual defect or condition, but other related factors such as weather, usage of the roadway, lighting conditions, etc, as well.

The government has immunity for defects in design of a roadway if the design has been approved by a government body unless it can be shown that the conditions and usage of the roadway have rendered the original design immunity invalid. This immunity can also be overcome if you can show that the roadway design and/or condition presented a trap for the unwary motorist who believed, based on the signage, conditions, etc, that the roadway was safe, when it wasn’t.

The Government has immunity against claims that it should have placed a traffic sign or signal (failure to sign claims) at a particular intersection or warning of a particular roadway feature. This means that they are not negligent , for a mere failure to place a sign or signal at a particular place. This immunity may be overcome if it can be shown that the layout, usage, and available information provided to the motorist created a trap for an unsuspecting driver using the roadway with due care.

A person injured as a result of a dangerous condition of public property such as a defect in a public roadway must take immediate action. They must file a claim within six months of their injury or they may loose their right to recover damages. For information on claims filing click here. Contact the attorneys at the Dolan Law Firm to have a free case evaluation.

You should take photographs of the dangerous condition as soon as possible after the accident or collision as the conditions often change, or are repaired, and the evidence may be lost. Be careful when photographing roadway conditions that you do not place yourself in traffic or harm’s way. Always have a lookout to help you and only work from a position of safety. CALL US AND WE WILL GO OUT AND PHOTOGRAPH THE SCENE.