Have you been injured by a pothole while riding a bike? Have you suffered a road injury in Connecticut? These injuries can be very serious. They often result in broken bones.
What are your legal rights? Is the town responsible for the damage to your bike? For your medical bills? For your pain?
A Defective Road Claim
Connecticut law provided that a person who was injured by means of a defective road may recover damages from the party bound to keep it in repair.
In making a claim, a person must prove all of the following elements by a fair preponderance of the evidence:
1) that she gave the required statutory notice of injury;
2) that the sidewalk where the injury occurred was one that the (city / town /
borough) and not some other person or entity had a duty to maintain or repair;
3) that there was a defect in the road;
4) that the city had notice of the defect;
5) that the city failed to exercise reasonable care to remedy said defect; and
6) that the defect was the sole proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injuries; that is, no
other cause was a substantial factor in causing her injuries.
All of these elements must be proven.
Why You Need To Contact A CT Personal Injury Attorney Immediately
The statute states that an action can only be brought to recover damages caused by a defective sidewalk if the plaintiff provides written notice of the injury, with a general description of the injury, the cause, the time, and the place of its occurrence. This notice shall be given within ninety days thereafter to a selectman or clerk of the town, city or borough bound to keep the sidewalk in repair.
The notice mandated by the statute includes five elements: 1) written notice of the injury, 2) a general description of the injury, 3) the cause, 4) the time, and 5) the place.
Giving notice doesn’t mean you have to file a case. But doing so is necessary to preserving your claim for a road injury.
If proper notice isn’t given, you have no case.
Road Injury Legal Malpractice
We have brought claims against lawyers who fail to give proper notice in a timely fashion. The notice provision for road defects is unforgiving. If your lawyer didn’t give notice or gave improper notice you may have a legal malpractice claim.
If you would like your case evaluated at no cost please contact Attorney Ryan McKeen at 860 471 8333.