Potholes Can Cause Serious Accidents
Spring is a welcome respite from the winter, but the roads don’t come with the same good news. Once the ice on the roads has thawed, you are faced with potholes and pits that are a significant hazard.
Potholes not only slow you down when you are driving along the highway – they can cause vehicles to lose control and lead to serious accidents and injuries to pedestrians, passengers, and drivers.
Let us look at how potholes get formed, the danger it offers, and what to do if you get involved in an accident caused by potholes.
How do Potholes Come about?
During a downpour or when snow collects on the road, the water seeps through cracks and into the ground beneath the road. During winter, water that collects freezes and expands, pressing up against the road surface. As the water freezes and thaws with the changes in temperatures, it finally collapses inwards, pulling the overlying material. This forms the pothole. As traffic passes over the area, it causes more crumbling, making the pothole wider.
The Danger Posed by Potholes
When a vehicle or motorcycle passes over a pothole, the action can cause damage to the vehicle, making it unsafe to drive. Dented rims, tire blowouts, steering issues, and suspension problems are just a few issues that come with hitting potholes.
Most notably is the effect of a pothole-related accident on the occupants of the car. Trying to avoid a pothole can also make you lose control of the vehicle and possibly ramming into another vehicle, a motorcycle, or a pedestrian, causing serious damage and injuries.
What makes potholes even more dangerous is the fact that you cannot easily spot them easily. However careful you are on the road, you might not be able to spot that pothole.
What Should You Do After a Pothole Accident?
Motorists often don’t know how to react after a pothole-related accident. Your car’s wheel might have been caught in the pothole, and another car hits you from behind, or you might have swerved to avoid a pothole only for you to hit a pedestrian or another car, or a leading driver might have stopped suddenly to avoid the pothole only for you to hit his car from the rear.
If you get into such a situation, there are a few steps you can take to protect yourself and also get compensated, especially if the accident is a result of someone else’s carelessness.
First, try to calm your nerves. Car accidents can be confusing and traumatizing, especially involving serious injuries. Once your vehicle comes to a stop, assess the situation and find out if you or your passengers sustained injuries.
Call 911 to report the crash and make sure you give them all the details regarding the accident. They will send help in the form of an emergency response team or a responding officer to process the scene.
You need to get medical attention from a qualified doctor. This gives you a chance to have the injuries evaluated, and a medical report generated. This report is vital to the process of filing for compensation. After you get medical attention, contact qualified personal injury attorneys guide you on how to handle the claims.
Filing a Claim for Compensation after a Pothole Accident
If you get injured during a pothole accident, you have the right to sue the state or the contractor responsible for maintaining the road. You must file a claim to the relevant department in writing before the statute of limitation expires.
It is necessary to prove that the contractor or the state knew that the pothole was there. Competent personal injury attorneys can help determine if you have a case, but it is up to you to find the right one to handle the case on your behalf.
Working with the right attorney ensures that you get the legal representation you need to prove that the injuries were due to the pothole. If it can be proven that the state or the contractor was aware that the pothole existed and didn’t repair it, you can sue them for damages.
