Runners injured by potholes need help with their medical bills and in supporting themselves while they must miss work.
To find out how to hold the city or county responsible for dangerous potholes in local roads, victims can count on Maison Law of Madera for a free, no-obligation case consultation.
It’s a no-risk way for victims to get a handle on what their injuries are worth, before city lawyers and insurers tell them their injuries and pain aren’t worth anything at all.
Do I Need a Lawyer After Getting Taken Down by a Pothole While Running?
The seriousness of your injuries usually decides whether you should talk to a lawyer about your case or not. A serious injury like a broken bone, a deep road burn wound, or a brain injury would usually be a high-value case, with a more complicated path to success.
When medical bills will be expensive, the city and its insurers work harder to avoid blame. They may claim a runner was clumsy or was distracted, trying to shift blame away from the city. Teams of attorneys may also work with their own doctors to proclaim that your injuries aren’t as bad as they look. It’s all an effort to limit what the City of Madera has to pay.
A Madera pedestrian accident lawyer would immediately investigate your accident and gather evidence showing how long the city had delayed in fixing a pothole. These and other details would help force the city to accept accountability and would earn you what you needed to make a full recovery.
Complex Cases Against the Government: Another reason you’ll want strong legal representation is that the City of Madera or Madera County will be protected by special barriers against litigation. Government agencies can enforce very short statutes of limitations on victims. It means victims who wait longer than 6 months to file a claim may have their claims rejected.
Government departments like the City of Madera’s Street Division also make you file special paperwork alerting the city to your intention to file a claim. They can actually deny your ability to file a claim or lawsuit. You’ll want to make sure you have the evidence to force the city to take your claim seriously.
Your Maison Law attorney helps you build a strong case. Your attorney would file your claim for you and make sure the paperwork is filed correctly and on time.
Who Is Responsible for My Pothole Accident While Running?
On local streets and highways, the City of Madera, or Madera County, could be fully responsible for every cost injured runners suffered while trying to heal. In some cases, a construction company owners who cause road damage near their projects could also be liable for damages on streets and sidewalks.
One strong piece of evidence that’s often available has to do with the reporting of potholes by the community. If there’s proof that a pothole had already been reported as a hazard. If the city had been informed of it, or there had already been an accident caused by the pothole, it would show Madera’s negligence by delaying action.
The city has a reasonable amount of time to fix the issue, but when they delay too long, and someone gets hurt, they are often found liable.
What Type of Support Can Runners Get for an Injury Caused by a Pothole?
Runners may need support to last weeks or months while they heal. That must cover every physical and financial issue patients will encounter. The emotional trauma caused by victims who can’t lace up and get back out of a stress-relieving run must also be considered.
Runners may end up in the Madera Community Hospital emergency department after stepping in a pothole and falling forward. They may try to catch themselves in the fall, only to snap a wrist bone or an arm bone. Victims can also land on their faces to endure deep cuts, broken noses, and lost teeth. A foot may be held in place in the pothole on the street or in a crosswalk, allowing an ankle bone to break or ligaments to become torn.
Joggers might land on a knee cap and need an extended period of physical therapy to restore flexibility in the joint and to run at full speed again. Johns Hopkins Medicine reports that, depending on the victim’s age, healing may take three to six months. During that time, victims may not be able to walk up stairs easily or bend over to pick up a child. Strenuous exercise will likely be out of the question.
With such devastating consequences, getting the correct amount in an injury claim becomes crucial. Your attorney would demand these benefits and more:
- Current medical bills and those expected in the months to come.
- Lifelong support for a permanent physical disability.
- Support for physical pain and emotional trauma. This includes the anxiety and depression that a difficult recovery could cause victims.
- Loss of enjoyment of life. Victims can suffer very real mental harm when they are unable to enjoy their hobbies. With major injuries, they may never be able to head out on the runs they love again.
- Loss of wages and benefits while victims are unable to work.
- Travel costs to get to medical appointments while victims are unable to drive and perhaps in casts or using wheelchairs.
Contact a Madera Pedestrian Accident Lawyer
Reach out to Maison Law for a free consultation after any injury suffered after stepping into a pothole on the street, on a sidewalk, or in a crosswalk while exercising. We represent accident victims hurt across Madera County.
Our case reviews come with no obligation. It’s a no-risk way to find out what your injuries may be worth before an insurance adjuster tries to convince you they are worth very little or nothing at all.
If you find that we can help you earn more for your recovery, you won’t need any money to hire us. Maison Law doesn’t get paid unless we win your case for you. Then our fee comes out of the compensation that an insurance company must provide.
