If you visit public lands and get hurt, you may not be able to hold the government operating the land or park responsible.
California Government Code offers protection to governmental entities regarding unimproved public property. If you are hurt due to the natural state of the woods, along a lake or bay, you may not be able to ask the government for help.
Neither a public entity nor a public employee is liable for an injury caused by a natural condition of any unimproved public property, including but not limited to any natural condition of any lake, stream, bay, river or beach.
Your Options After Getting Hurt on California Public Land
California’s Premises Liability laws allow you to hold a business or a government department responsible if you are hurt in a public space. Companies and agencies are supposed to protect all clients, customers, and visitors from harm.
You might fall down some unmaintained stairs, or slip on a puddle left in a government office building. You could file an accident claim and ask for help with medical bills and other damages.
But GOV 831.2 provides immunity for government departments in some cases involving accidents on public land. If the accident occurs on unimproved land and is caused by the natural state or condition of the land, victims may not be able to hold a city, county, or state governmental entity responsible.
This so-called “Natural Protection Immunity” can also extend to government employees overseeing the land.
What Counts as Unimproved Property?
These and other criteria would be used to determine if your accident scene was on unimproved land:
- Toilets and other improvements don’t always mean it’s an improved property.
- Public access and roads into primitive areas don’t always mean a public land is improved.
- If an accident occurs upon a built structure, it could mean the government operator could face liability, but not always.
- Public Beaches: Things like lifeguards, beach cleanup services, and signs don’t always indicate that a public beach is an improved property.
Other Obstacles to Your Case
If you are hurt while on public land, you may be faced with the task of proving that the property is not unimproved. That can be a tough challenge in some cases.
Unfortunately, a claim or lawsuit filed against a government entity comes with several challenges.
- The Deadline to File is much shorter than in a normal personal injury case. The statute of limitations on government liability cases is 6 months.
- Alerting the government to your claim. Within 6 months of the accident, you’ll need to notify them of what happened and your request for compensation. You’ll have to fill out complex paperwork and provide all evidence. You’ll need to document your injury and the totals for all of your damages. As far as evidence goes: Always take photos of the obstacle that caused your accident. This can help prove that a hazard was manmade and not natural.
- Government lawyers. You’ll have to face off against government attorneys who will be challenging the classification of the land and even the severity of your injuries. They’ll try to blame you for what happened.
Having a California premises liability lawyer of your own can mean you have the skill and know-how to fight back. Your lawyer will fully investigate what happened to you and figure out just how the public land should be classified.
If your injuries are very minor, you may not need a lawyer’s help for your case. But with something like broken bones, a neck or back injury, or a Traumatic Brain Injury, a lawyer has a much better chance of holding a county or state agency responsible. Your lawyer also has a much better chance of earning you the maximum possible for recovery.
See: Can I sue the government if I’m hurt Mountain Biking in a Park?
Determining If You Need a Lawyer
If you are seriously hurt in an accident, and a government department or employee was at fault, it’s a good idea to go over your options with a skilled attorney. Your case may be very complex, and government lawyers specialize in getting you to take as little as possible for recovery, or getting you to give up your claim for nothing.
Contact Maison Law for a free case consultation as soon as you can. It’s confidential, and it comes with no obligation. There are also no upfront costs if you need to hire a lawyer. We aren’t paid unless we win your case. Then our fee comes out of the settlement the government is forced to provide.