Damage to my car by flying rocks

by Vinay

My car was damaged due to a huge piece of the road that flew from the car in front my me. I am talking about a piece of concrete that is about a foot to two feet long.

My insurance agreed to cover the claim but I was wondering if I can take up this with the state or county authorities.

Answer:

That is a pretty big chunk of road! Well, most of the time, this would be considered a "road hazard."

A road hazard is something every driver "assumes" when driving a car. If for example a vehicle spins their tires and sends debris and damages your windshield, they could be protected by the road hazard doctrine (if the spinning was not negligent and it was not intentional but it was an "everyday" type of thing.

In your case you have a huge piece coming out. You would have to prove that the state or city was negligent in some way. They had to have knowledge that this road or section was damaged and prone to do this, and they failed to do anything about it. This would be hard to prove, but you can certainly give them the chance to explain.

If they had no knowledge, or you cannot prove that they did, then it would be more difficult to argue.

Good Luck,