Potholes Not Only Annoying But Also Dangerous

 If you have ever experienced running over a pothole, you know how irritating and annoying, not to mention dangerous they can be.

Michael Mansur, writing for the Kansas City Star, on August 23, 2010, reported that the Jackson County Legislature approved a $270,000.00 settlement in connection with a lawsuit filed against the county over an injury caused when a motorcyclist struck a pothole. The motorcyclist, Derek Jackson, was injured when the bike he was riding struck a pothole described as arms width and ankle deep. He was flown to a nearby hospital for multiple injuries that included head trauma.

Notice of Defect a Key Factor to Establish Liability

Attorney Scott Hofer said that discovered documents in the county’s possession revealed that county officials had been notified twice in the 39 days before his client’s accident about the dangerous pothole. Ordinarily, a government or private entity will not be liable for injury occurring on premises they own or have a duty to maintain unless they have constructive or actual notice of the defect and fail to take corrective measures within a reasonable time to prevent any injury from occurring. In this case, the motorcyclist’s attorney was able to discover facts which proved the county had adequate notice of the defect without having taken measures to correct the condition, thus establishing the basis for liability on the part of the county. The outcome might well have been different if the defect had not been reported and the injured party had been unable to establish a time frame for the pothole’s existence. One could, of course, argue that a pothole is not something that appears overnight, and that it was more likely than not that it had been present for some time. This could establish liability on the basis of constructive notice, or, in other words, that the condition had existed for a sufficient amount of time that the county should have known of its existence and repaired it.

As Jackson County now knows, those irritating potholes can also be expensive.

Bob Jacobson is a personal injury attorney in Boise, ID