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Legal Question, Bike Wreck, No Warning Signs of bad road, etc.?


My friend got a new bike and when coming out of our friends apartment he had to drive through a part of the road that had been pretty much destroyed by trucks/tractors driving on it from the construction across the street. If your looking down the road its like (parallel):
left curb, dirt with gravel on it for both lanes (its not suposed to be dirt- the road is destroyed), then concrete for people to park along the side of the street, but the parking section has gravel all over it too, then the far right curb.

There are no warning signs anywhere of a Construction Zone OR there being loose gravel on the road at all.

Anyways, my friend went to ride throught it on his new motorcycle so he went over on the parking section where it was still concrete and his bike still slipped out and is now all messed up. Is there any potential lawsuit that could come from this for no warning signs on the street at all? either vs the construction company or the city for not fixing the road?

He has full coverage, but doesn't want his insurance to skyrocket because of a wreck caused by something else. I told him he should've gone a different route (street wise) but he said it would take too long and decided to go this way anyways. The road has been messed up for atleast a year and gets worse by the day, and still nothing has been done with it. One of the major Apartment complexes to our college campus is on this street and so tons of peolpe have to drive it everyday. Im not sure how it has continued going on like this.

No, sorry...you have to be in control of your vehicle at all times.

No, this is where common sense kicks in and realize you don't ride on a motorcycle when you see these conditions...

Maybe. He should consult an attorney. Didn't he have insurance on it?

Against the construction company? Possibly.

Against the city? Doubtful. Depends on how long it was like that. They had to have notice of the dangerous condition.

If it was reasonably foreseeable that someone could enter the construction zone then yes to both the construction company and the city. Without seeing the location it is hard to say because if there were clear signs of construction then you really don't need signs.

The reason you'd name the city is because they are more likely to push to settle. The city might or might not be liable depending on the relationship between the city and the construction company but it doesn't hurt to name them. First rule of civil law is name as many defendants as possible to cast a wide net.

Not sure what the value of the bike is or where this happened but odds are it would be a small claims issue so you wouldn't need a lawyer. Must jurisdictions allow at least $10k in small claims. That means you don't need a lawyer which keeps your costs down

oh please does everything have to end in a lawsuit? what about taking some personal responsibility? would he have the same complaint if the road was wet and he messed up his bike? as a driver you are supposed to be aware of changing conditions. he just needs to report the damage to his insurance company.

that is a question for your friend's attorney.no one here can possibly say.

my guess is it will be difficult though - you have an obligation to drive safely for the conditions, which means being aware of the conditions in the first place.

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