I was not cited for the accident nor given a ticket, the gravel being on the road is why I slid, if it was not there I could have stopped..
no, if you had maintained control of your car you would not have hit the guardrail.
I understand that the shoulder is not meant to drive in, I was attempting to stop in the shoulder lane, and was unable to do to gravel making my car slide. I was not cited for the accident, nor given ticket, the cop even told me he got into a accident in the same spot!
and if there was snow it would have been the cities fault for not making it impossible to slide?
My insurance will not cover the accident because I was not at fault, and they are telling me to go after the city.. I understand that as a driver I am to maintain control of my car while driving, but if there is an element on the road that makes that impossible,.. if the gravel was not on the road I could have stopped. I am not really sure what to do in this case any advice? Thank you as well for replying
you are at fault. At best there is some contributory actions...
nevermind. There is no contributory negligence on the city's part.
it seems to me that there may be some confusion on my part, the police officer told me I did the right thing, in steering in to the shoulder lane instead of oncoming traffic, to attempt to regain control of the car, while inside of the shoulder lane that is used for stopping and break downs, I slide.. so basically what you getting at is because the gravel was in the shoulder and not on the "actual" road the city could not be responsible?
Sure, hitting the rail is better that running into oncoming traffic. That is just common sense but it does not change who is at fault for not maintaining control of your vehicle.
if the gravel was on the road the city would still most likely not be liable. In a few situations they could be held liable if it was on the actual roadway but very few.
Since it was on the shoulder, they have no duty to sweep the shoulder to be sure there is no gravel on the shoulder. It is your duty to look where you are driving, determine any safety hazards and act accordingly.
a man who does not see the obvious is negligent in his actions.