I hit a bad pot hole on my way home from work. I know am looking at a bill of over 700 for the new tire, rim, tire rod and alignment. Can I sue the city for damages?

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Originally Posted by nole123

Can I sue the city for damages??

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Hello n:

Sure. Anybody can sue anybody. You'll have to file a claim first, but if they turn you down, you can file a small claims lawsuit. I don't think you'll win, because the city doesn't guarantee that it's streets will be pothole free. But, small claims is quick, cheap and easy.

excon

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Originally Posted by nole123

I hit a bad pot hole on my way home from work. I know am looking at a bill of over 700 for the new tire, rim, tire rod and alignment. Can I sue the city for damages??

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As excon pointed out, you can sue anyone for anything.

I will guarantee that you will not win. You were not in complete control of your vehicle if you were not able to avoid a pothole that caused that much damage - you were either going too fast or not paying attention.

Out of curiosity, can I ask why you need a tie rod replaced? Just how big/deep was this pothole?

It was quite a deep hole. The bricks separated from the pavement.

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Originally Posted by nole123

It was quite a deep hole. The bricks seperated from the pavement.

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So how fast were you going that you damaged your tie rod?

My sister was actually reimbursed when she got a flat from a huge pot hole. She just contacted the police department who directed her to someone who could help her. Then she filled out some forms, made a diagram of what happened and faxed everything.

I don't know if you can always do this. It probably depends on what type of road you are on. My sister just happened to be driving on a military road and was reimbursed by the military base.

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Originally Posted by XOXOlove

My sister was actually reimbursed when she got a flat from a huge pot hole. She just contacted the police department who directed her to someone who could help her. Then she filled out some forms, made a diagram of what happened and faxed everthing.

I don't know if you can always do this. It probably depends on what type of road you are on. My sister just happened to be driving on a military road and was reimbursed by the military base.

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That's the difference - that was one tire. The OP wants to be reimbursed for a tire, a rim, a tie rod and an alignment. He was either going too fast or the tie rod was bent before he hit the pothole.

And as you pointed out, that was a military base - my assumption is that this was a public road where dozens of people are probably making claims that their vehicle "was damaged" in one way or another.

Hello again, n:

You're not going to get a definitive legal answer here. We didn't see the pothole. We don't know how diligent your city is in street repair. We don't know if this pothole was reported and ignored, or the city doesn't even know about it. We don't know how fast you were going, or how careless you may have been. We don't know if you took pictures of the pothole, or the skidmarks since you were trying to avoid it.

In short, there's a jillion different possibilities, with a jillion different outcomes. That's why I suggest that you sue the city anyway. It'll only cost you the filing fee of around $50 to have a real judge tell you if you have a case or not. The worst that can happen is you lose. But, you'll KNOW for sure whether they were liable or not.

excon

I was going less than 30 mph

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Originally Posted by nole123

I was going less than 30 mph

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Less than 30mph and you bent a tie rod? That's highly unlikely.

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Originally Posted by this8384

Less than 30mph and you bent a tie rod? That's highly unlikely.

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We don't know what kind of car the OP was driving, or how the suspension is set up on the car, so you really don't know whether it's unlikely or not. If he's driving a car with lowered suspension and/or low profile tires (like, say, 35 profile tires on 19" rims mounted on a car with lowered suspension - the kind of set up that is becoming increasingly popular for sports cars and sedans) and he hit a large pothole at 30 MPH I could almost guarrantee major damage.

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Originally Posted by ebaines

We don't know what kind of car the OP was driving, or how the suspoension is set up on the car, so you really don't know whether it's unlikely or not. If he's driving a car with lowered suspension and/or low profile tires (like, say, 35 profile tires on 19" rims mounted on a car with lowered suspension - the kind of set up that is becoming increasingly popular for sports cars and sedans) and he hit a large pothole at 30 MPH I could almost guarrantee major damage.

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Regardless of the setup of the vehicle, I still say the city is going to argue that he should have been more cautious. A pothole that large would have easily been visible - what if a child had ran out in front of the road, he hit them and smashed out his headlight? Would he sue the parents for having a kid?

It's easy to say that all it's going to cost is the filing fee. It's also going to cost him the time to go to the courthouse, have the city properly served and then take time off work to appear in court. And the filing fee for small claims by me is $85, not $50.

So ultimately, it is his decision whether he wants to file a claim and if the claim is not paid, if he wants to file a small claims suit. His original question was, "Can I sue the city for damages?" The factual answer is yes, he can sue; my opinion is that it's going to cost him more money and he will not be successful.

Whether he can win depends on local law. Some jurisdictions say that they will reimburse for damages to cars caused by potholes or to pedestrians by faulyt sidewalks, but only if they have previously been notified in writing of the existence of the problem (In NYC the trial lawyers got together and documented the existence of tens of thousands of potholes and sidewalk imperfections around the city, so that people could sue and win). So as previously suggested: call the police department or public works and ask about it - no harm in that.

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Originally Posted by ebaines

Whether he can win depends on local law. Some jurisdictions say that they will reimburse for damages to cars caused by potholes or to pedestrians by faulyt sidewalks, but only if they have previously been notified in writing of the existence of the problem (In NYC the trial lawyers got together and documented the existence of tens of thousands of potholes and sidewalk imperfections around the city, so that people could sue and win). So as previously suggested: call the police department or public works and ask about it - no harm in that.

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Agreed - he can at least call them and see what they say about it.

If they deny his claim, I don't think pursuing it any farther will be beneficial. But, I've been wrong before... :)

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Originally Posted by this8384

If they deny his claim, I don't think pursuing it any farther will be beneficial. But, I've been wrong before... :)

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Hello this:

The city WILL, in the normal course of events, DENY his claim out of hand. His only recourse IS to sue. Now, I don't disagree with you about the outcome, but given the numbers, I'd still take the chance.

Even using YOUR numbers, we've got an $85 filing fee, plus, oh, let's be generous and say that it's going to cost $100 to serve the city, and a $100 to take the day off. That's, what, $300? To win $700? I'd take that gamble. His payoff odds are better than 4 to 1 considering that he'll get his costs back if he prevails. And, I'd put his odds of winning at 2 to 1. To me, that's a pretty good bet.

That's how the gambler in me analyzes it, anyway. I was wrong once, too. That was back in '89.

excon

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Originally Posted by ebaines

Whether he can win depends on local law. Some jurisdictions say that they will reimburse for damages to cars caused by potholes or to pedestrians by faulyt sidewalks, but only if they have previously been notified in writing of the existence of the problem (In NYC the trial lawyers got together and documented the existence of tens of thousands of potholes and sidewalk imperfections around the city, so that people could sue and win). So as previously suggested: call the police department or public works and ask about it - no harm in that.

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- And many of those people STILL lost. The driver has to be in control (as "This" said) and attempt to avoid.

And the person with the damaged vehicle STILL had to prove previous notice to the City AND file a notice of claim for "reasonable damages" within the specified time frame.

I've investigated (literally) hundreds of these cases and have never had a winner.

The other half of this is cases where people report the pothole in writing (a requirement) and then drive into it several days later and claim all sorts of damages - and the defense is "You knew it was there and you STILL hit it?"

Bending a tie rod at 30 is entirely possible. I hit a pothole going 30 km/hr and blew out two tires, bent two wheels, bent the frame of my car, required alignment, balancing of the new tires and another balancing a month later because it wasn't done properly the first time. The total was over $1800.00 and was certified by the dealer to be caused by a pothole. Always avoid damage if possible but the potholes are not always visible especially at night when the damage to my car occurred.

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Originally Posted by mervin23

Bending a tie rod at 30 is entirely possible. I hit a pothole going 30 km/hr and blew out two tires, bent two wheels, bent the frame of my car, required alignment, balancing of the new tires and another balancing a month later because it wasn't done properly the first time. The total was over $1800.00 and was certified by the dealer to be caused by a pothole. Always avoid damage if possible but the potholes are not always visible especially at night when the damage to my car occurred.

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The question is whether the OP can collect. Did you?

The City would not be responsible for the second balancing.

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Originally Posted by mervin23

Bending a tie rod at 30 is entirely possible. I hit a pothole going 30 km/hr and blew out two tires, bent two wheels, bent the frame of my car, required alignment, balancing of the new tires and another balancing a month later because it wasn't done properly the first time. The total was over $1800.00 and was certified by the dealer to be caused by a pothole. Always avoid damage if possible but the potholes are not always visible especially at night when the damage to my car occurred.

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A) This thread is over a year old.
B) This is posted in the Law forum - do you have legal advice or are you simply relating to the OP's story? The OP's question was "Can I sue the city?" not "How did I wreck my car?"
C) Regardless of what happened to you, I highly doubt the OP was driving the same vehicle with the same road conditions at the same speed as you were when your accident occurred. Every single one of those factors will come into play if he tries/tried to hold the city liable for the damages.