Hazardous Road Conditions & Car Accidents

Each year, more and more cars hit the city streets and freeways in Salt Lake City. Car accident attorneys based in Utah, our firm has dealt with just about every type of accident out there that you can think of. Many accidents arise from hazardous road conditions that could have been avoided in the first place had someone done their job to take care of them. Oftentimes, these accidents end up getting reported as the fault of the driver. However, that is not always the case.

In the majority of hazardous road condition cases, the condition was not seen until it was far too late to do anything about it. Whether it be because it was too dark outside or there were not any signs around alerting to the danger, these individuals should never be deemed responsible for something that was not their fault. Just check out the different examples below.

Salt Lake Car Accident – First Case

In this instance, the driver went down on the overpass of the freeway. The asphalt that once covered the overpass was gone. This left a major seam in the roadway and caused it to be uneven. Since there were no warning signs around the area, the rider had no way of knowing that was going to be there. They were a seasoned professional and still went down on their bike.

Due to the lack of proper warning signs and the arch in the bridge, the rider could not see the hazard until they were just a few feet away. There is no way to prepare for something that you cannot see. Even though the city should have posted a sign, the rider should also be prepared for the unexpected when traveling.

Draper Utah Car Accident – Second Case

In this situation, a seasoned rider was out driving on an interstate highway in the dark. They had pulled over onto the side of the road to turn their reserve tank on. While coasting onto the shoulder of the road, the tire of the bike ended up hitting into an edge trap. This two to three-inch lift is created when they are in the process of repaving the road. This caused the bike to go down without warning.

There were no warning signs along the side of the road. However, the rider could easily have seen that there was no asphalt down on the road before ever coming up to the accident site. While there should have been signs out there, you cannot always depend on them to be there. If you notice any type of construction on the road, you have to expect the unexpected, especially when your visibility is limited. Taking the proper precautions is pivotal in preventing injuries.

Sandy Car Crash Lawyer

In this particular case that our Salt Lake personal injury lawyer has seen, the rider was out on a surface ride early in the morning. There was an underground vault that had exploded up the road further. This blew out the manhole cover that would normally cover the street. This caused all of the traffic signals and lights in the area to end up going out and making the area completely dark. While the rider did know that the lights were out in the area and proceeded with caution to go through the area, they did not know anything about the manhole cover not being there. This caused them to go down on the displaced cover. There is very little that could have been done to prevent the rider from hitting into the manhole cover and avoiding the accident.

Layton Utah Injury Case

In this case, the rider went down when they ran into a sink hole out on the street. The officer who responded did admit that the hole was so bad that they had to block the area with their car to prevent anyone else from being injured. At the deposition, the officer testified that the color of the road and the shadows made it extremely difficult to be able to see the hole. The pavement crew chief ended up coming to the accident scene and said that he knew about the problem but hadn’t had time to fix it just yet.

If you notice that something does not seem right and you do not have a good range of visibility in front of you, it might be time to adjust your speed and pay close attention to avoid any potential injuries from occurring.

Most of the time, motorcycle accidents end up happening because of something that they could not avoid. While there are cases where the driver could have done something differently to avoid the accident, that is not necessarily always the case. It all depends on what the conditions were surrounding the accident scene and whether there was enough time for the proper entity to correct the problem in the first place.

The cases above were all prosecuted successfully. If you are dealing with anything like one of the cases above, you need to speak to a licensed accident attorney who can help you with your claim.

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It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. Legal problems come to everyone. Whether it’s your son who gets in a car wreck, your uncle who loses his job and needs to file for bankruptcy, your sister’s brother who’s getting divorced, or a grandparent that passes away without a will -all of us have legal issues and questions that arise. So when you have a law question, call Ascent Law for your free consultation (801) 676-5506. We want to help you!