On September 17, 2009, a Wisconsin man filed suit against Roadsafe Traffic Systems and Christ Brothers Asphalt due to injuries he sustained when the motorcycle he was operating hit a hole in the road on Homer Adams Parkway West in Godfrey. The hole was created as Christ Brothers and Roadsafe were repairing road reflectors. The suit alleges that both Roadsafe and Christ Brothers failed to do the following:
- Provide warnings of road construction and the dangers associated with it;
- Adequately repair the road;
- Fill in areas of the road that had been dug out for repairs; and,
- Warn the public of the hole in the road.
The suit also faults Christ Brothers for their failure to inspect the work of their subcontractor, Roadsafe. As a result of hitting the hole and of Christ Brothers and Roadsafe’s alleged negligence, the man suffered numerous injuries including a brain injury, impaired vision, loss of visual acuity, pain, loss of wages, disability, a diminished earning capacity and subsequent medical treatment expenses.
Recently, our firm successfully negotiated settlement in a matter involving similar circumstances as those described above. In Jones’ v. Unnamed Co., settlement was reached for burn injuries as well as a traumatic brain injury allegedly resulting when Mr. Jones crashed into a vehicle on a freeway. There was a difficult liability claim with issues concerning non-party fault. However, a settlement of $1,090,000 was reached with some of the settlement proceeds being structured for the economic security of the clients.
Some factors surrounding the crash included Unnamed Co.’s negligence and failure to adhere to the following:
- Properly and completely supervise the activities, work and work preparations, including the planning, organization, and setup of traffic control of employees, agents and/or servants, in order to positively ascertain that the activities work, and work preparations were done properly, safely, adequately, and in conformity with all applicable standards, guidelines, rules and statues;
- Failing to know, observe, and implement all applicable standards, procedures, and devices, for the safe and effective warning to and control of traffic approaching and within the area in which roadwork was being performed;
- Creating hazardous conditions on and in the vicinity of the traveled portions of the public highway;
- Failing to properly and completely train employees, agents, and/or servants allowed to operate vehicles and perform work on and around the public highways before allowing such persons to operate motor vehicles and conduct work on the public highways; and,
- Failing to properly and completely supervise the activities, work, work preparations, planning organization and setup, of traffic control to positively ascertain that such activities, work, and work preparations, and organization, were done properly, safely, adequately, and in conformity with all applicable standards, guidelines, rules and statutes.
According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), there were 1,010 work zone fatalities in 2006, an increase of nearly 50 percent from the previous decade. The majority of these accidents occur during the weekday commute, with trucks involved in 30 percent of crashes. In mid-summer more than 3,000 work zones can be found on U.S. highways. Due diligence should be observed when encountering constructions zones because, as indicated above, the fault doesn’t always lie with the motorist.
If you are interested in a free consultation regarding any accident, we would be honored to do so.