We've all experienced it: you're driving along when you suddenly encounter a curve in the road too sharp for the posted speed, or a blind intersection where drivers can't see one another, or a dip in a highway that makes your car bounce dangerously.

After passing the design hazard, we wonder if others might not have been so lucky.

Some common highway, road and street defects include the following:

  • Water-pooling: these design defects keep water dangerously pooled on highways; when drivers hit them, hydroplaning and loss of control of the vehicle can occur
  • Shoulder drop-off: this flaw in road design involves a road shoulder dropping off suddenly from the highway; when a driver drifts onto the shoulder, the drop-off can cause them to overcorrect in an attempt to get back on the road, causing loss of control of the vehicle
  • Uneven pavement: these imbalanced roads can cause loss of vehicle control
  • Failure to install a proper median: this can allow turning cars to inadvertently enter oncoming traffic

Other road flaws that can be dangerous include:

  • Potholes
  • Visual obstructions at intersections
  • Improper signage or lack of signage
  • Broken traffic signals

In some cases, the state, county or city in charge of road maintenance simply ignores a problem, even when accidents, injuries and fatalities have taken place because of the design flaw or defect in the road.

Our firm represented the family of an English couple killed in a car accident in Tombstone, Arizona, at a dangerous intersection where two other victims had previously died. After we filed a lawsuit against the city and state, the two entities that shared responsibility for the intersection, they blamed each other for not fixing the flaw that caused the tragedies.

Clearly, when one more than one governmental agency is in charge, no one is in charge. We seek compensation from governments who refuse to live up to their obligations to maintain safe roadways.