Maison Law can help you with a claim if you’ve been injured in a skateboard accident caused by a pothole in Visalia. Being on a skateboard doesn’t change your status as a pedestrian, but it does bring up problems when you come across potholes and other road issues. As you might expect, you’re extremely vulnerable to accidents—and that means injuries. Our team can help you through the process of getting better. Set up a free consultation today.
Do I Really Need a Lawyer After a Skateboarding Accident?
It’s pretty easy to see how a pothole can cause a skateboard accident, but the problem is that everything that comes after gets complicated fast. That’s usually when legal help becomes useful. Our team at Maison Law can step in to:
- Explain your real options in plain language, based on what actually happened
- Look into who controlled the sidewalk, street, or parking area where you fell
- Preserve evidence early, before repairs erase it
- Handle talks with insurance companies or public agencies so you don’t have to
The issue isn’t whether skateboarding comes with risk. It’s whether the surface you were riding on should’ve been reasonably safe in the first place. If it wasn’t, you may have options worth exploring.
What Information Helps After a Pothole Skateboarding Accident?
What you’re able to document early can matter more than most people expect. Once someone reports a hazard, repairs often happen quickly—and once the pavement changes, proving what caused your fall gets harder. If you’re able, focus on:
- Photos or video of the pothole. Try to capture the size, depth, and shape of the pothole or broken pavement before it’s fixed. Wider shots that show lighting, nearby landmarks, and the surrounding area help explain why the hazard wasn’t obvious while riding.
- Damage to your skateboard and gear. A cracked deck, bent trucks, chipped wheels, or a damaged helmet can help show how the fall happened and how forceful it was.
- Witness details. Someone who saw you fall—or even someone who mentions that the spot has been dangerous for a while—can help establish that the defect wasn’t new.
- Any official reports. If police, campus security, or property management documented the incident, ask how to get a copy. Those records can matter later.
Once the pavement is patched or replaced, responsibility often gets harder to prove. Early documentation helps keep the focus on what actually caused your injury. And the more information you have, the easier it can be to narrow down liability.
Who’s Liable When a Pothole Causes a Skateboarding Injury?
Figuring out liability for a skateboard-pothole accident is usually the most difficult part of the entire situation—outside of your injuries. But it’s incredibly important because it sets the stage for the claims process. The legal standard is fairly simple to understand:
- Did the person or agency responsible for the property know—or reasonably should have known—about the dangerous condition and fail to fix it in a reasonable amount of time?
But that gets prickly in real life, precisely because of the number of groups and people involved. Usually, this means dealing with:
- The City of Visalia or Tulare County, for local streets and sidewalks
- The State of California, for state-controlled routes
- A private property owner, business, or property management company
Sidewalks, parking lots, shared paths, and building entrances don’t always have a single obvious owner. Sometimes multiple people are involved, and they’re all going to be pointing fingers at each other. This doesn’t change your options, but it does change how you’ll move forward.
What Kind of Claim Do I File With a Skateboard-Pothole Accident?
The kind of claim you can file depends almost entirely on who controlled the area where the pothole was. And the easiest way to understand it is to split it between public and privateproperty.
- If the injury happened on public property, California law usually requires a government claim under the California Tort Claims Act (CTCA). That process has strict rules, including:
- Filing a Notice of Claim within six months of the accident
- Allowing the government 45 days to respond
- Meeting minimum damage thresholds of $10,000
- If the pothole was on private property, the process is more familiar. You have to file within two years of the date of the accident, and it usually starts with an insurance claim before moving to a personal injury lawsuit.
In either situation, claims are focused on covering your losses:
- Medical care and follow-up treatment
- Lost income from missed work
- Damage to your skateboard and personal items
- Ongoing pain or physical limitations
- Emotional stress and reduced quality of life
Where the accident happened often explains why the hazard existed in the first place—and why it wasn’t fixed sooner.
Where Do Pothole Skateboard Accidents Usually Happen in Visalia?
As we’ve touched on, location is everything in pothole skateboard accidents. And even though they can happen anywhere, they tend to happen in the same places over and over again:
- Older sidewalks in and around Downtown Visalia, where shifting concrete and delayed repairs are common
- Areas near schools and busy residential neighborhoods, where foot traffic wears surfaces down quickly
- Shopping centers and parking lots along corridors like Mooney Boulevard, where constant vehicle traffic creates dips and broken asphalt
- Apartment complexes with shared walkways and drive lanes that don’t always get regular maintenance
- Construction zones with temporary patches or uneven transitions
- Poorly lit streets and sidewalks, especially early in the morning or after sunset
Most of these accidents have nothing to do with reckless riding. Skateboards react instantly to surface defects, and riders have a reasonable expectation that commonly used areas will be kept in safe condition.
Maison Law Can Help You After a Visalia Skateboarding Accident
A skateboarding injury is hard enough on its own. Add cracked sidewalks, uneven concrete, or broken asphalt, and it becomes something you never saw coming. At Maison Law, we understand how difficult this situation is. But with our experience and knowledge, we can make things easier. Reach out today to set up a free consultation, and let us help you get better.
