advice on suing the city for improper exit (Portland, Tigard: insurance, lawyer)

[amg123456]

Hello, I got into a bad wreck on Saturday. I took an exit and my car slid like it was on a water slide into the median. This was in a city near Portland.

Thing is, the guy who towed me told me that this intersection had known issues. He said that a couple of years ago, several cars slid off the road into an adjacent pond when taking the exit. So the city's resolution was to put a concrete median in the middle of the road.

I don't think the median had an orange border around it or a sign in the middle. And the median is an unusual shape and in an unusual place in the road that you wouldn't expect. I think the guy in the tow truck told me that he towed someone who had a similar accident about a month ago.

It did heavy damage to my car and I would like to hire a lawyer to do a safety analysis on the exit. I would love to get monetary compensation and it would be a public service to ensure that this exit doesn't put others at risk.

I've taken hundreds of exits in my car flawlessly with zero slippage so this was quite an anomaly. I think the city put in a "cheap fix" without adequately addressing the problem.

So can you recommend a lawyer I can call for this? They would need to perform analysis on the safety of this exit. There should be plenty of historical accident data to prove that this exit is inherently unsafe.

[ccjarider]

My comment:
Why should anyone help you try and scam off taxpayer funds?
Find a scummy attorney on your own. They are easy enough to find.

[ormari]

Originally Posted by amg123456

Hello, I got into a bad wreck on Saturday. I took an exit and my car slid like it was on a water slide into the median. This was in a city near Portland.

Thing is, the guy who towed me told me that this intersection had known issues. He said that a couple of years ago, several cars slid off the road into an adjacent pond when taking the exit. So the city's resolution was to put a concrete median in the middle of the road.

I don't think the median had an orange border around it or a sign in the middle. And the median is an unusual shape and in an unusual place in the road that you wouldn't expect. I think the guy in the tow truck told me that he towed someone who had a similar accident about a month ago.

It did heavy damage to my car and I would like to hire a lawyer to do a safety analysis on the exit. I would love to get monetary compensation and it would be a public service to ensure that this exit doesn't put others at risk.

I've taken hundreds of exits in my car flawlessly with zero slippage so this was quite an anomaly. I think the city put in a "cheap fix" without adequately addressing the problem.

So can you recommend a lawyer I can call for this? They would need to perform analysis on the safety of this exit. There should be plenty of historical accident data to prove that this exit is inherently unsafe.

It sounds to me like you were in violation of the Basic Speed Rule.

What happened to accepting responsibility for our actions? Why choose the path of being a burden on society?

[Sherwoody]

If it is the ramp in Tigard, it is a known issue. If not adhering to the speed limit sign (which is much slower than you would think is necessary) in wet conditions, vehicles have been known to slide there.

[bler144]

Originally Posted by Sherwoody

If it is the ramp in Tigard, it is a known issue. If not adhering to the speed limit sign (which is much slower than you would think is necessary) in wet conditions, vehicles have been known to slide there.

This is the safe bet.

While a road can be re-engineered to minimize slippage risks to some degree (not at all a matter of just being "cheap" btw), if you aren't obeying posted limits and making reasonable accommodations for weather and road conditions, it's going to be hard to win a case claiming the city has been negligent.

If you're a resident, you can certainly write or petition your local gov't to look at a broader fix.

[AndyAMG]

making reasonable accommodations for weather and road conditions

But that is personal responsibility.. we don't want any of that.

[usaf_1832]

Yeah the only advice I can give is not to ask legal advice from us posters of city data.

I would also like to city of Portland to hold on to its funds personally.

[mc0624]

This is just my opinion but when reading the OP's post, the very first thing that came to mind is someone is looking for easy money.

Had the tow truck driver not said anything, would the thought to sue even entered the OP's head? Kinda doubt it...

I really dislike when people don't accept responsibility for their own actions.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

You slid because the road was wet. My suggestion is: if you are going to live in Portland, learn how to drive in the rain.

[bler144]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

You slid because the road was wet. My suggestion is: if you are going to live in Portland, learn how to drive in the rain.

To be fair, if you drive through 99 intersections one way with no incident, and drive through the 100th intersection the same way and the engineering/design leads to a very different outcome, you're going to be a bit surprised.

I don't know the intersection or the details of this particularly well enough to say that is/isn't what happened, but there is a point at which the system does train us to assume that in most places it is quite safe to exceed posted speed limits by 5, 10, whatever mph depending on your vehicle and skill.

That said, torts seem a pretty poor way to rely on resolving these type of outlier problems. But there are also problems with posting a sign that says "at this particular intersection posted 35 mph, we really mean 35 MPH!" and as mentioned prior, the city paying to completely re-engineer the road shifts costs from the individual/insurance system to the public, and exceeding the speed limit, even if "trained" that it's usually safe to do so, is ultimately a personal risk incurred.