Road design cases continue to be a leading liability loss driver for NYMIR subscribers. Road design cases usually stem from an auto accident where injuries are sustained, and a claim is made against the municipality that owns or controls the road. In many cases, the claimants are individuals who were injured in single-car accidents where the vehicles ran off the road, and hit a stationary object or overturned. The lawsuits typically allege improper design; inadequate signage; failure to correct roadway and roadside hazards and dangers; improper traffic control devices, and unsafe construction zones. Road design cases differ from road maintenance cases. With the latter, claims usually allege failure to provide a reasonably safe roadway – usually improper removal of snow or ice, not cutting back vegetation, failure to remove excess gravel or sand, and improper pothole repairs.
The National Safety Council indicates there were 12,300 fatal and 290,000 injury accidents as a result of a collision by a motor vehicle with a fixed object – usually a tree, utility pole, guardrail, or abutment. According to the Cornell Local Roads Program, run-off-road collisions accounted for 13 percent of all crashes in New York in 2000 and 27 percent of fatal crashes.
Source: Risk Management Handbook
Published: December 2003
