When Potholes or Poor Road Conditions Damage Your Car

Most drivers have been there: You're cruising along a road or highway when one of your car's tires finds a pothole. The experience can be jarring and loud, and it might leave you wondering whether your vehicle was damaged—and if so, who might be legally responsible.

Who's Responsible for Road Maintenance?

Most highways, streets, and other roadways are maintained by cities, counties, and states. Different maintenance responsibilities for a certain roadway can also be shared by more than one governmental agency. For example:

• a state might be responsible for filling potholes and paving the roads, and
• a city might be in charge of snow plowing and de-icing roadways.

If your car is damaged because a road or highway is in bad shape, you can usually file a claim with the government (city, county, or state) that's in charge of maintaining that road. This "notice of claim" process acts as a sort of prerequisite to filing a civil lawsuit against the government (or the government could decide to settle your claim without you filing a lawsuit).

Figuring out which agency was responsible for maintaining a certain roadway is important for a number of reasons, including for following the right procedure for filing a required "notice of claim" against the government (more on this later).

The Government Must Be At Fault For the Bad Road Conditions

In order to be successful in a claim against a state government or local municipality for vehicle damage caused by bad road conditions, you need to show that the governmental entity did something wrong. Usually that means showing that the government (or one of its employees) was negligent, or failed to properly fulfill the legal obligation to safely and reasonably maintain the road.

A number of conditions can give rise to liability for bad road conditions, such as:

• a pothole, sinkhole, or erosion
• a cracked or broken stretch of road or highway
• damaged or missing barriers or guardrails
• poor or confusing street signage
• faulty design
• narrow roads
• construction debris in the road, and
• lack of sufficient shoulder on the road.

Was the Government Aware of the Road Problem?

In order to prove negligence, you must usually prove that the government knew or should reasonably have known of the problem with the road, and failed to take proper action.

If, for example, a big pothole has been in the middle of a street for six months, has damaged dozens of cars, and the local newspaper has been writing articles about it for weeks, that seems like a pretty clear case of negligence against the government. But what if a sinkhole appeared in a street at 1:00 PM, and, at 1:15 PM, you came along and your car broke an axle in the sinkhole. Would the government be negligent?

It's probably not reasonable to expect a town's public works department to learn about and repair a sinkhole in 15 minutes. Under these facts, it's unlikely that the town will admit any negligence on its part.

Filing a "Notice of Claim" Against a Government Entity

Every state has a special set of rules that cover claims against the government at the state and municipal level, if you're trying to get compensation for any kind of loss that might be the fault of the government or one of its employees. That includes:

• injury caused by roadway problems, and
• property damage resulting from roadway problems.

The claim-filing process varies from government-to-government, but there's usually a short (as little as 30 days) deadline to provide notice to the proper government entity, in writing, of details like:

• the date and exact location of your accident
• the nature and extent of your losses, and
• how much you're asking for in terms of compensation.

The government might have its own "notice of claim" form for you to complete, or they might just have a list of information that you're required to provide.

In some states, there might be a separate process dedicated to property damage claims involving potholes and other road condition hazards. In Massachusetts, for example, these are known as "Roadway Defect Claims," and they're subject to a 30-day deadline for giving notice to the government agency that's responsible for maintaining the highway or road where the damage occurred.

To find out where and how to file a "notice of claim," start by doing an online search using a phrase like "claim against [name of state/city/county] government."

If you're not sure whether it's the state, county, or town that is legally responsible for the maintenance of the road where your vehicle was damaged, you usually can't go wrong with sending a claim to as many governmental entities as possible. It may also make sense to contact a lawyer who can help with a claim against the government.

Comparative Negligence: Could You Have Avoided the Problem?

When you make a vehicle damage claim, the government might argue that you should have avoided the area, especially if the road had been in bad condition for some time, and there were signs warning of the condition of the road. Learn more about comparative fault for an accident.

What If Poor Road Conditions Cause a Car Accident?

In some situations, a pothole or other roadway issue might cause—or play a part in—a vehicle accident. If you want to make a claim for injury or vehicle damage against the government entity that's responsible for the stretch of road where your crash occurred, most of the same liability issues and claim procedures we've discussed here will apply to that kind of claim too. But note that in some states, there might be different "notice of claim" requirements and deadlines when injuries (and not just property damage) are involved.

Are There Limits on Damages in a Bad Road Condition Case?

If you file an administrative claim with the government for vehicle damage because of bad road conditions, depending on your state's laws, there might be a cap on the dollar amount you can recover via the claim process. But this issue is a little more nuanced than that. If you're asking for more than a certain amount, the government might ask you to specify whether you intend to file any future lawsuit in small claims or regular civil court. Your answers could affect the government's decision whether to settle your claim.

The amount you're seeking in damages will also dictate your future options. If your claim is denied or no action is taken by the government, and you're allowed to file a lawsuit, you'll have to choose whether you're going to file in:

• small claims court (where you can only ask for up to a certain amount) or
• regular court, where there are typically no caps on what a plaintiff can seek.

Since these kinds of cases are limited to property damage, which is usually easy to quantify, you should be able to plan ahead and navigate a path that leads to full compensation for your losses.