What is the name of your state? Idaho
_____
Hello,
I was recently involved in an accident during road resurfacing. Here are the details:
- The state has contracted with company X to resurface the freeway.
- Construction is taking place at night - from 9:00 pm to 5:00 am.
- I was going to work and had just entered the freeway at 5:30 am.
- The section of road that had just been grated during the previous night was the area where I was driving.
- I was in the left hand lane, driving approximately 55 mph.
- There was a semi truck in front of me, another one to the right of me and one behind me.
- As I was passing the truck to my right, the truck in front of me drove over an item in the road.
- I had enough room between me and the truck to see the object, but not enough time to stop on the freeway, and the truck in front of me had cleared the object.
- I could not pull off to the left due to the very narrow shoulder of the road and the guard-rail immediately to my left.
- I could not pull over to the right as there was a truck right beside me.
- The item in the road was black, curved and stuck up about 5 inches from the road, giving the appearance of tire debris.
- I decided to straddle the object so that I would not cause damage to my tires.
- As I drove over the object, I felt a thud, heard a loud noise and my vehicle stalled.
- I had very little control over my car, but continued to drive as straight as I could to avoid hitting anything else.
- The truck behind me passed me on the right and I was able to coast over to the shoulder on the right.
- I called for a tow truck immediately.
- I went back to examine the object in the road as I could not figure out how a tire had caused so much damage to my vehicle.
- I found a 3 foot long piece of curved iron covered in asphalt and nails.
- I took the object out of the road and brought it home with me.
- Another vehicle was on the side of the road in front of me with damage from the same object.
- I called the police and was told no need to file a police report and was given the department of transportation's phone number.
- I called the department of transportation and was given the contractor's name and phone number.
- I had the object examined by the department of transportation, who identified it as a cope plate from an expansion joint of a bridge.
- The department of transportation confirmed they were missing a cope plate from the bridge I had just driven over.
- I called the project manager from company X who admitted that they must have grated too closely to the bridge deck, loosening the plate.
- The insurance company has admitted liability and they will pay the damages for my vehicle.
- There were no physical injuries involved in the accident.
Company X has done a horrible job with the construction and has left many safety hazards unchecked. Examples:
- Opening the freeway for traffic after construction prior to examining for hazards, construction debris or defects.
- Grating too much surface off the road leaving 3 feet long, very deep pot-holes throughout the construction project.
- Not putting up adequate signage for the construction project (eg: warning of road work ahead, abruptly closing a lane without giving advance warning - only putting barrels out to close a lane).
So... My question is: I feel there is more negligence involved and would like to send a message that negligence is not acceptable. Any suggestions on how this could be accomplished? I'm not looking to gain or benefit from the accident. My car is already being totalled, and I will get the payment from that. I know it won't be adequate to replace the vehicle, but that's the way it goes... Any settlement (if any) would contain some kind of provision for community service, etc...
I have the information for the other claimant, and so technically I think we could qualify for a class-action...
Any help is appreciated!
Thanks!
Rachel
_____
Hello,
I was recently involved in an accident during road resurfacing. Here are the details:
- The state has contracted with company X to resurface the freeway.
- Construction is taking place at night - from 9:00 pm to 5:00 am.
- I was going to work and had just entered the freeway at 5:30 am.
- The section of road that had just been grated during the previous night was the area where I was driving.
- I was in the left hand lane, driving approximately 55 mph.
- There was a semi truck in front of me, another one to the right of me and one behind me.
- As I was passing the truck to my right, the truck in front of me drove over an item in the road.
- I had enough room between me and the truck to see the object, but not enough time to stop on the freeway, and the truck in front of me had cleared the object.
- I could not pull off to the left due to the very narrow shoulder of the road and the guard-rail immediately to my left.
- I could not pull over to the right as there was a truck right beside me.
- The item in the road was black, curved and stuck up about 5 inches from the road, giving the appearance of tire debris.
- I decided to straddle the object so that I would not cause damage to my tires.
- As I drove over the object, I felt a thud, heard a loud noise and my vehicle stalled.
- I had very little control over my car, but continued to drive as straight as I could to avoid hitting anything else.
- The truck behind me passed me on the right and I was able to coast over to the shoulder on the right.
- I called for a tow truck immediately.
- I went back to examine the object in the road as I could not figure out how a tire had caused so much damage to my vehicle.
- I found a 3 foot long piece of curved iron covered in asphalt and nails.
- I took the object out of the road and brought it home with me.
- Another vehicle was on the side of the road in front of me with damage from the same object.
- I called the police and was told no need to file a police report and was given the department of transportation's phone number.
- I called the department of transportation and was given the contractor's name and phone number.
- I had the object examined by the department of transportation, who identified it as a cope plate from an expansion joint of a bridge.
- The department of transportation confirmed they were missing a cope plate from the bridge I had just driven over.
- I called the project manager from company X who admitted that they must have grated too closely to the bridge deck, loosening the plate.
- The insurance company has admitted liability and they will pay the damages for my vehicle.
- There were no physical injuries involved in the accident.
Company X has done a horrible job with the construction and has left many safety hazards unchecked. Examples:
- Opening the freeway for traffic after construction prior to examining for hazards, construction debris or defects.
- Grating too much surface off the road leaving 3 feet long, very deep pot-holes throughout the construction project.
- Not putting up adequate signage for the construction project (eg: warning of road work ahead, abruptly closing a lane without giving advance warning - only putting barrels out to close a lane).
So... My question is: I feel there is more negligence involved and would like to send a message that negligence is not acceptable. Any suggestions on how this could be accomplished? I'm not looking to gain or benefit from the accident. My car is already being totalled, and I will get the payment from that. I know it won't be adequate to replace the vehicle, but that's the way it goes... Any settlement (if any) would contain some kind of provision for community service, etc...
I have the information for the other claimant, and so technically I think we could qualify for a class-action...
Any help is appreciated!
Thanks!
Rachel
Last edited:
