Every day, drivers are on the road with dozens of vehicles that are carrying or hauling things, moving often unsecured items from place to place. Each time you pass, or are passed by, a vehicle with tree limbs, furniture, mattresses, or any other of a myriad number of items not securely fastened down is an opportunity to have their “road debris” fall off and damage your car, possibly even causing injury to you and your passengers in the process of trying to avoid road debris accidents.
RESPONSIBILITY
Debris from a truck hit my car! When road debris accidents happen, who is ultimately responsible for any resulting damage? If you don’t see the vehicle or can’t get a license plate or other discerning information to provide knowledge of the driver, you may have to rely on your own insurance company to cover any damage or injuries as a result. The ideal scenario would be, if that were to happen, that the driver of the vehicle at fault would realize debris had fallen off and would stop and pick it up, leaving you with their insurance information so you could file a claim. Nine times out of 10, though, that is not the scenario you will be left with. What do you do?
PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY
If the negligent driver does not notice and/or stop to give you that defining information, your next step should be to call a personal injury attorney who can help you sort through your next actions. You might be able to rely on eyewitness testimony if another driver saw your plight and stopped to help. Many cars have dash cam cameras enabled today and you may have been lucky enough to obtain footage of the reckless driver’s vehicle and any identifying marks. A personal injury attorney will know what questions to ask and where to help you begin to get answers to your questions.
FILE A POLICE REPORT
If your vehicle sustained significant damage or you, or any passengers, were hurt by road debris accidents, you will most assuredly want to file a report with the police. The police report will capture any and all details of the event that have been able to be ascertained for permanent record.
WHAT IS AVOIDABLE ROAD DEBRIS?
Insurance companies consider any road debris already laying on the road as “avoidable,” thereby making any claim against such road debris uncollectable. You would need to be able to prove for road debris accidents that the debris actually flew or fell off the negligent driver’s vehicle. If you were to go ahead and file a claim that is determined resulted from avoidable road debris, you may see your insurance premiums. Depending on the amount of damage done to your car, or any personal injury(ies) suffered, and your insurance deductible amounts, you will want to consider the risks of proceeding with a claim.
EXCEPTIONS TO AVOIDABLE ROAD DEBRIS
There might be an exception or two to road debris being avoidable. A construction company who leaves debris on the roadway in a bad place could be held accountable. The government, as well, if in charge of the portion of highway/roadway you travelled where the debris was, could also be liable as they are required to keep interstates free from debris. However, filing a claim against a government entity can take much time and requires extensive knowledge of the system and, therefore, a personal injury attorney who can help should be contacted.
Road debris accidents happen; there are many vehicles on the road that are transporting items loosely fastened or unsecured altogether. If you have occasion to say, debris from a truck hit my car, and it was unavoidable, speak with a personal injury attorney about your avenues of recourse.