A Two-Foot Pile

Q: On a rainy night, I was traveling downhill on a country road.  My car failed to negotiate a curve to the right.  Instead, it went straight, down into the gorge below.  I had noticed no speed-limit sign.

The next morning, a friend went back.  He saw a speed-limit sign, but there were tree branches across the front of it – touching the sign and laying across the front.  My friend also saw a warning sign, depicting a curve, maybe a hundred feet ahead of where I plunged, but this sign was tipped over to the side.

My friend also saw that twenty feet downhill from where I went off the road, but not at it, the County had placed a guide rail.  We have learned that the placing of the rail was without benefit of a study.  There has never been any study concerning the safety conditions of the road.  Where I went off, the County had put merely a two-foot pile of dirt.  The County does not know who, if anyone, designed this dirt pile or decided to put it there.

A week before my accident, a vehicle had gone over that dirt pile.  A month before my accident, a truck had crashed into the guide rail that was too far downhill to save me.

A: Despite the ample notice that this was a dangerous area, the County had failed to undertake a traffic study and failed to install and maintain sufficient speed-limit signs, warning signs and guide rails.  You are well situated to argue that the County was negligent.

By: Scott Baron,
Attorney at Law Advertorial

The law responds to changed conditions; exceptions and variations abound. Here, the information is general; always seek out competent counsel. This article shall not be construed as legal advice.

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